16th July 2026
Leaving Caithness is nothing new as people have been doing it for centuries.
Some left to fish and others joined the armed forces while many found work in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen or further south.
For generations, saying goodbye at Wick railway station or Scrabster harbour was simply part of life.
What has changed is not the act of leaving.
It is why people leave, where they go and, perhaps most importantly, whether they ever return.
The grandparents' generation
For many born before the Second World War, work often dictated where life would be lived.
Young women joined the herring fleets, following the fishing season around Britain's coastline.
Others entered domestic service or nursing.
Young men found work in farming, fishing, the Merchant Navy or heavy industry.
Leaving home was often an economic necessity rather than a personal choice.
Yet many kept strong ties with Caithness.
Some returned later in life after raising families elsewhere.
Others came home to retire.
The county remained "home", even if work took them away.
The parents' generation
By the 1960s and 1970s, education was opening new opportunities.
Universities and colleges became realistic options for many more young people.
Large employers offered apprenticeships and long-term careers.
Some found work connected with Dounreay, bringing highly skilled engineering and scientific jobs into the county.
Others left for careers in banking, teaching, engineering or the civil service.
Again, many hoped one day to return.
Some did.
Others found that promotions, mortgages and family life gradually rooted them elsewhere.
Today's generation
Today's young adults face a different world altogether.
Few expect to spend forty years with one employer.
Careers are flexible.
People often change jobs several times.
Many couples both have professional careers.
That creates a challenge that previous generations rarely faced.
Returning to Caithness no longer depends on finding one suitable job.
It often means finding two.
That is a much harder task.
A different housing market
Housing has changed too.
A generation ago, buying a first home was difficult but generally achievable for many working households.
Today, higher prices, tighter lending rules and limited housing supply can make returning far more complicated.
For some families, moving back is not simply a question of wanting to come home.
It is a question of whether they can afford to.
Technology changes everything
Perhaps the biggest difference between generations is technology.
Your grandparents could not work for a London company while living in Wick.
Today's graduates sometimes can.
Fast broadband, video meetings and cloud computing have created opportunities that would once have seemed impossible.
The growth of remote working offers rural areas a chance to attract skilled workers whose employers may be hundreds of miles away.
That opportunity barely existed five years ago.
But some jobs cannot be done online
Not every career fits behind a computer screen.
Healthcare workers, engineers, electricians, plumbers, hospitality staff, builders, mechanics and retail workers all need to be where the work is.
That means rural economies still need a wide variety of local employers if they hope to attract younger families.
Technology helps.
It does not solve everything.
What has stayed the same?
Despite all the changes, one thing has hardly altered.
People still feel an emotional attachment to Caithness.
Family remains here.
Childhood memories remain here.
The landscape remains here.
Many who left still speak of "going home" when they visit.
That sense of belonging is something many places would envy.
Could the next generation be different?
There are reasons for optimism.
Major renewable energy developments.
Space industry projects.
Engineering linked to offshore wind.
Growing interest in quality of life.
Flexible working.
Improved digital communications.
Together they offer opportunities that previous generations never had.
The challenge is ensuring those opportunities become permanent careers rather than temporary projects.
Learning from the past
History shows that migration has always been part of life in Caithness.
People have always left.
People have always returned.
What matters is keeping the door open.
Communities that continue creating jobs, building homes and investing in education give future generations something to return to.
Those that do not may slowly lose the people they most need.
Looking forward
Perhaps we should stop thinking about leaving as failure.
Every generation has travelled to gain skills and experience.
The real measure of success is whether people still see Caithness as somewhere they can build a future.
If they do, many will return.
If they cannot, the county risks losing not just individuals, but the families, businesses and community leaders of tomorrow.
The story of Caithness has always included departures.
The challenge for the next generation is making sure it also includes plenty of homecomings.