Research from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) andThe Network has found that willingness to work abroad has become the new normal, at least among people looking for new job opportunities. More than 200,000 people from 189 countries participated in the survey, creating a multidimensional picture that employers may find useful for recruiting internationally and redesigning their overall people strategies. Let’s have a quick look at the key findings.
Their paper entitled Decoding Global Talent” presented findings on today’s global workforce—everything from what people in different parts of the world expect of their jobs to what would prompt them to move to another country for work to the countries they would consider moving to.
Key Findings of Decoding Global Talent:
- One in every five participants already has international work experience, and almost 64% said they would be willing to go to another country for work.
- In most countries, young people are more mobile than their older compatriots.
- People who work in engineering and technical jobs—in the information technology and telecommunications fields, in particular—are the most likely to say they would be willing to go abroad (roughly 70 percent of engineers say this).
Willingness to Work Abroad by Country
Countries that are developing economically or are experiencing political instability tend to record higher willingness to work abroad, but equally, countries not facing such obstacles are also recording high levels of desire to work overseas. For example, about 94% of survey respondents in the Netherlands and France say they would consider moving to another country for work. The figure below illustrates the Willingness to Work by Country.
