Labour migration and demographic ageing have increasingly affected the availability of human resources in the European public sector over the past decade. This paper analyses the relationship between intra-EU mobility, external migration, and the growing shortage of qualified personnel in public administration, healthcare, and education during the period 2010–2025. The study relies on secondary statistical data provided by Eurostat, the OECD, and the European Commission, applying a comparative quantitative methodology based on migration flows, public sector vacancy rates, the age structure of employees, and participation in vocational training programmes. The findings highlight significant regional disparities, particularly between Western European and Central and Eastern European Member States, where persistent outward migration has contributed to structural staff shortages and reduced institutional capacity. The analysis shows that highly skilled professionals, including medical personnel and civil servants, are overrepresented among emigrants, thereby exacerbating difficulties in the provision of public services in less developed regions. The paper argues that low remuneration levels, limited career advancement opportunities, and insufficient investment in human resource development constitute key determinants of the “brain drain” phenomenon in the public sector. It advances public policy recommendations aimed at improving working conditions, strengthening retention mechanisms, and expanding continuing professional training frameworks in order to ensure the sustainability of public services.
This study investigates the factors that inhibit university students’ oral participation in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) speaking activities within Romanian higher education. Drawing on a five-dimensional framework (linguistic, cognitive, affective, pedagogical, and socio-cultural) the research explores how these interrelated variables shape classroom silence. A mixed-methods approach was employed, using a structured questionnaire administered to 12 experienced ESP instructors. Quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, while qualitative responses were thematically coded to capture recurring perceptions and contextual nuances. Findings indicate that affective factors, particularly fear of negative evaluation, low self-confidence, and anxiety, constitute the most significant barriers to participation. Socio-cultural concerns, such as fear of losing face, further reinforce silence. Linguistic limitations, including insufficient vocabulary and grammatical uncertainty, and cognitive constraints, such as limited topic knowledge and preparation, also contribute substantially. In contrast, pedagogical factors were perceived as less influential, though instructors identified strategies (such as scaffolded tasks, collaborative work, and supportive feedback) as effective in promoting engagement. The study highlights that classroom silence is a multifactorial phenomenon rooted in the interaction of emotional, linguistic, cognitive, and social dynamics. It offers practical implications for ESP teaching, emphasizing the need for supportive, low-risk speaking environments and targeted instructional scaffolding to enhance communicative competence.
The present study aims to analyse the ubiquity and complexity of the phenomenon of arrogance in modern society. Starting from the observation of the extent that this phenomenon has taken in the current global society, for a start, the paper attempts to identify its multiple characteristics and forms of manifestation in its first part. In the next section of this paper, the psychological substrates of arrogant behaviours are reviewed and, then in the third part, a brief portrait of the arrogant person is presented. The study continues with a comparative analysis of the causes, frequency and extent of the arrogance phenomenon in individualistic versus collectivist cultures. The paper ends with a brief reflection on the impact that arrogance has on the person who manifests or possesses it, on their relationships with others, on the community and organizations.
Europe is going through a period of social transition, influenced by macroeconomic factors of change, such as the digital and environmental transition, demographic changes and other global events. The smart transition is increasingly felt in cities and communities of different sizes, due to some influencing factors such as the speed of the energy transition, as well as the implementation of new forms of work and learning, largely supported by digital tools. The digital and environmental transition produces social consequences, with an impact on jobs, positively influencing the quality of work and requiring new skills, preparing the workforce for the future of the labour market. Social transformations have brought new challenges such as the demand for new qualifications, skills, labour shortages, digital gaps and a series of social manifestations: increasing inequalities, increasing social protection spending and new challenges regarding social cohesion. Through the advantages and disadvantages, they produce, transitions are perceived differently by individuals and lead to uncertainties in society, changes in behaviour and values. The study addresses the social transformations taking place at European level, aspects relating the triple transition and the social dimension, policies developed at European Union, in the social plan, to mitigate the consequences of various disruptive factors, aiming at meeting the needs of citizens and developing an inclusive economy. The methodology used is the documentation from the economic specialized literature related to the topic addressed, the selection, interpretation and formulation of ideas, in the author's own conception.
The present paper outlines the main aspects of copyright in relation with Artificial Intelligence internet applications. We will analyse the three AI apps which we consider to be most relevant at the moment and which have the biggest potential for growth: ChatGPT, owned by OpenAI; Gemini, owned by Google; Copilot, owned by Microsoft. While there are many more other AI platforms on the market, we consider it important to review the terms and conditions of the main ones, also because the other programs will most probably follow their lead. This is particularly problematic given that AI is now being used on multiple layers: personal, so in the day to day activity of individuals; professional, at work, irrespective of the fields our jobs fall in; governmental, given that the digitalisation of leadership at that level also involves AI right now. There is also the complicated question of who owns copyright over the input and output of AI apps. And whether artificial intelligence can be a creator or not, in the present legal framework. We will also refer to current litigation cases in the field of AI and practical examples, showing how AI works on different platforms if we give it particular instructions and ask it to create in our name.
