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2014-10-11 14:50:05
Travelling talent
Skilled workers are nowadays eager to work abroad
Oct 10th 2014
WHETHER equipped with a master s degree in business or another qualification
sought after by employers, today s workers, especially younger ones, are
remarkably keen to have a spell working outside their home countries. An online
survey of more than 200,000 people in 189 countries, published this week by the
Boston Consulting Group, a management consultant, and The Network, a
recruitment agency, found that almost two-thirds of respondents would
contemplate working abroad and that one in five already had. The sample is
somewhat skewed: most respondents were aged 20-50, and most had further- or
higher-education qualifications. But such workers are the talent that companies
and countries most need to attract.
In some cases the findings are not so surprising. In strife-torn Pakistan, 97%
of respondents said they would leave the country in search of work. But almost
as high a proportion, 94%, were prepared to work abroad in the stable,
prosperous Netherlands. The figure was the same in France, but in America
barely one-third expressed willingness to work in another country. In Britain
and Germany the figure was 44%. However, almost everywhere younger workers were
much more open to the idea (see chart): in America 59% of those in their
twenties said they would leave the country for work.
Asked to list the foreign countries they would consider moving to, America came
up most frequently, with 42% of non-Americans mentioning it, followed by
Britain and Canada. But when asked to choose a city, London came first, with
16% of respondents choosing it, compared with 12.2% for New York, the next most
popular place. Nobody much wanted to work in China or other Asian countries,
with the language barrier being the main deterrent.
The report concludes by arguing that governments will in the future need to do
more to build attractive cities with good public services, or suffer a brain
drain . Skilled workers will also need to realise that the pool of competitors
for the best jobs is now bigger than before. Being unwilling to get some
experience working abroad could mean that their careers also end up going
nowhere.