Accelerated Migration from Iran Reaches Oil Workers

Several officials in the energy sector in Iran reported on Sunday that the migration of oil specialists and even oil workers from Iran has accelerated, expressing concern over the consequences of this situation. Among them, Arash Najafi, a member of the Energy Commission of the Chamber of Commerce, told the Iranian Labor News Agency, ILNA, on Sunday, June 6: "Unfortunately, we are easily losing skilled and specialized forces, and if serious action is not taken, we may face a serious problem in the oil human resources sector." He added: "A technical worker and skilled labor in the country studies until at least the age of 25 and spends 5 to 10 years gaining professional experience to become skilled, meaning we lose 35 years of life due to brain drain and skilled labor emigration." Arash Najafi explained one of the reasons for this increased migration, stating that in Iran, "a top manager earns about $1,700 a month, while the same senior manager in the most ordinary companies in the world earns $5,000." He continued: "When we compare living costs and expenses in Iran with a city like Dubai, we see that they are the same, meaning the costs of the two countries are identical, but incomes are very different and only a quarter of those in the UAE, which causes everyone from nurses to technical technicians and specialists to be attracted to the Gulf countries and neighbors." This member of the Energy Commission of the Chamber of Commerce accused the Islamic Republic governments of "not doing anything, distributing subsidies and liquidity in the worst possible way among the people and society, and creating inflation," stating that in Iran, "the lack of meritocracy" has also led to the situation where "a manager who should reform consumption patterns does not know the way." Nasser Ashouri, the secretary of the Employers' Association of Oil Refining, also reported on the same day in an interview with ILNA about challenges in some refineries due to the migration of specialized forces: "Until now, our engineers requested to go abroad; now, technical and wrench-holding individuals in refineries are also requesting jobs in foreign countries, so that invitations for skilled refinery workers with salaries of 600 to 700 million tomans per month are being sent from neighboring countries." At the same time, Alireza Daneshi, the CEO of the National South Oilfields Company, described the personnel situation in Iran's oil industry as difficult during his press conference at the Tehran International Oil Exhibition, asking the media to "address the issue of migration and clarify it." Following the rampant inflation rate in Iran and the significant gap between income and household expenses, various professions and groups, including workers, teachers, and retirees, have formed widespread protests and strikes in recent years. These protests intensified amid the "Women, Life, Freedom" protests following the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police but were met with severe government repression. In recent months, energy and oil workers in Iran have held numerous protests demanding a 79% wage increase, timely payment, 20 days of work and 10 days of rest per month, insurance, improved transportation, food, health, and dormitory conditions. The severe government crackdown and the danger of protests going "underground" have been noted, as have the accounts of doctors and eyewitnesses regarding the injured from the protests.