International Job Searches Are on the Rise, Creating a Brain Gain (or Drain) for Some Countries

According to data from hundreds of millions of job searches and postings on Indeed, it appears that the international job market — especially in Europe — has rebounded. This is creating what we call a “brain gain” in some countries, or the migration of foreign skilled workers into a country. Meanwhile, other countries are suffering from a “brain drain,” or the migration of foreign skilled workers out of the country.

These trends are most prominent in Europe, as European nationals are once again searching for work outside of their own countries. Meanwhile, searches for Europe-based jobs originating from outside the continent have also offset their pandemic-era lows. Both trends have significant implications for businesses as they think about building and sustaining a strong workforce today and in the future. Here are four insights about the international workforce, based on Indeed Hiring Lab data and adapted from my session at Indeed’s FutureWorks 2022 conference.

Cross-Border Job Search Is Healthy and Higher Migration Is Expected

Worker mobility can function as a measure of a high-functioning, competitive job market. The numbers speak for themselves: Across 32 European countries, businesses posted 100 million jobs between 2019 and 2022. During that same time, some 800 million cross-border job searches were carried out.

Inbound searches from outside Europe have increased by 93% from prepandemic averages — and more than tripled since 2020. International mobility within Europe is commonplace, however. More than 8% of nearly 450 million European Union residents were born outside its borders, while 14% of United Kingdom residents were born elsewhere. In London, that number jumps to 37%. Americans want to live and work in Europe, too: 26% of international job seekers between January and April 2022 were from the United States — the second largest pool from outside the continent.

Job Seekers Go Abroad for Myriad Reasons

Interest in international work can be attributed to people wanting higher pay and more flexible work, as well as geographical labor shortages and regionally acute geopolitical factors. This year, millions fled the war in Ukraine, causing a surge of refugees looking for work in neighboring Poland and creating a new pool of talent. Use of the new Ukrainian-language version of Indeed’s site in Poland grew rapidly from zero to a substantial share of around 1.5% of all job searches in the country by mid-March. (Belgium and Switzerland are two other countries where employers have made the most effort to support Ukrainian refugees.) Similarly, after the Chinese government imposed new security policies in Hong Kong, search for work in the U.K. spiked from residents looking to move.  

In general, higher-paying jobs receive the most attention. In Germany and the U.K., for example, higher-paying jobs were nearly three times as likely to be clicked on by international workers than lower-paying jobs. The same trend applies to remote positions. In France, Germany and the U.K. — the three largest European economies and magnets for economic migration — foreign job seekers are two to three times more likely than domestic job seekers to search and apply for remote jobs. International applicants are also more likely to click on hard-to-fill roles than easier-to-fill roles; in Germany, that ratio was more than 2:1.

The country attracting the most international talent — “brain gain” — is Luxembourg, followed by Switzerland, the U.K., Germany and Ireland. These countries have stable domestic wealth, and their markets have recovered from the pandemic faster than other countries, making them ideal for people looking for work, whether on-site or remote. 

On the flipside, countries that are recovering from the pandemic at a slower rate are understandably less popular among international talent. Belgium, the Czech Republic and Spain are each suffering from “brain drain,” signifying how a country’s economic and public health standing impacts its attractiveness to international job seekers.

Businesses Are Taking Note

In 2022, 64% of executives at nearly 3,000 companies said they would hire foreign nationals. This was especially true in the U.K., where 74% said they sought to hire foreign workers. 

Hiring foreign workers isn’t free of difficulties, of course. Companies must acknowledge workplace barriers related to language and knowledge. (More than a quarter of the businesses that had planned to hire foreign workers said that insufficient knowledge of the local market is a concern.) 

Even so, investing in foreign workers seems good for business, according to the data: 73% of employees report enjoying working with colleagues from other countries, 72% believe it helped them learn new things and 63% believed foreign workers had skills that complemented their own.

Ways Employers Can Recruit and Retain Foreign Talent 

Post pandemic labor migration is competitive, but there are a few ways employers can attract international talent.

• Prepare for foreign candidates by understanding where they are coming from and what jobs they are interested in.
• Understand that remote, high-paying and hard-to-fill jobs receive more foreign attention and are therefore more likely to benefit from foreign interest.
• Post jobs abroad or in multiple languages and hire recruiters who speak multiple languages. 
• Embrace applicants from a wide range of backgrounds and with varying skill sets in order to support refugees and other migrants. Also, be prepared to hire quickly because those candidates tend to require urgency. 
• Last, consider providing resources for the successful applicants as they settle into a new country.

Once employees cross borders for a job, the most important thing to focus on is retention: continuously supporting international staff needs and maintaining competitive salaries and attractive working conditions. With a new job only a click away, staying ahead of the curve in this ever-shifting labor market is essential for success.

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For more insights from Indeed’s Hiring Lab, download the Brain Gain or Drain report and the Hiring and Workplace Trends Report 2023, created in partnership with Glassdoor.