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The global workforce - All latest updates

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.