At a time when controversies over migration feature so prominently in political debates, it is important to understand the factors impacting an individual’s decision whether or not to consider – and eventually take up – a job abroad.
We surveyed more than ten thousand workers in eight countries (United States of America, United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, France, Germany, The Netherlands and Ireland) who started a new job in the last year and asked them whether that new job required them to move to a different country, or if not, whether they had considered the possibility of moving to a new country for work.
The results provided us with a unique glimpse into their motivations. We found that work-related factors such as attractive job offers were the most relevant triggers for workers who had recently moved to a new country to start a new job: For 38.7% of the respondents that was the prime motivating factor.
People who did not move but considered doing so were more likely to justify their choice in terms of family or personal reasons — almost one-third indicated this factor as the main reason holding them back. People who did not even consider moving similarly signaled a strong personal preference for living in their current location.
Although the majority of people who moved had considered just one specific location, a sizable number of respondents reported that they considered alternative locations as well, especially in Europe, where 33% did so.
Let’s take a closer look at the survey results to learn more about what prompts people to consider and take up job opportunities abroad — and what prevents them from doing so.
Why Do People Move?
The majority of people who moved to another country were looking for a job in that specific location prior to their move. Between 15% and 30% of respondents were also considering other possibilities while a further 5-7% were not considering a move at all but ended up making one anyway — perhaps following a partner or family member.
People who moved to the US were least interested in moving to other locations: 80.2% of respondents said they were looking specifically to move to America before they arrived.
By contrast, European destinations had the largest proportion of people who considered other possibilities. This is probably linked to the differences that exist between the two groups of movers, the biggest being the ease of intra-EU movement for citizens of EU countries.
Thanks to the freedom they have to settle anywhere within the EU, these individuals are more likely to consider more than one destination at a time — much like Americans can when considering a move to a different state.
In terms of motivation, however, workers on both sides of the Atlantic showed some consistent patterns: Among the top reasons behind a decision to move to either Europe or the US were personal reasons, an attractive job offer and long-term career prospects.
While these factors were consistently important in both continents, the way they ranked across the two regions was somewhat different. For example, people who moved to the states pointed to an attractive job offer as the most important factor, while people bound for EU countries ranked personal reasons as a more significant determinant.
This shows that the top-level triggers behind the decisions of people to take a job in Europe or the US are an interesting mix of personal and work-related reasons. But when we dug into work-related reasons in more detail, we found that compensation aside, the factors that prompted people to pack and move to either side of the Atlantic showed even more differences.
Almost half of the people who ended up moving to one of the countries in Europe to enhance their long-term career prospects pointed to “better opportunities to broaden my skills” as the main reason behind their decision. On the other hand, 42% of people who relocated to the US for the same reason referred to their access to an existing network stateside they could rely and build on.
This could reflect differences in the immigration systems between the US and the European Union. As the movement of EU nationals within the borders of the Union is substantial, it is likely that people choosing European destinations are more able to pursue career development goals without worrying too much about visas, while people who consider moving to the US might often need family ties to qualify for certain types of visas.
When it came to reasons related to the availability of better jobs in alignment with a worker’s skill set however, we again found some similarities — this was among the top three reasons for workers who moved to either Europe or the US.
The Job Search 