MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Talented workforce becoming growingly borderless and global

Manpower Inc. released this week the results of its Borderless Workforce survey of nearly 28.000 employers across 27 countries and territories revealing that 31% of employers worldwide are concerned about the impact on the labor market from talent leaving their country to work abroad

A parallel Relocating for Work survey by Manpower revealed that 37% of individuals would be willing to relocate anywhere in the world for a better career. The survey gathered responses from more than 31.000 people in 27 individual labor markets worldwide. "As the talent shortage becomes more severe, employers are naturally concerned about losing employees -- not just to competitors within their own markets, but to those based overseas, too. Individuals are now increasingly willing and able to find employment far from their homes. More people are living and working away from their home countries than at any other point in history -- about three percent of the world's population," said Jeffrey A. Joerres, Chairman and CEO of Manpower Inc. The survey found that 78% of individuals would be willing to relocate within their national borders or abroad for work and 41% of those would be willing to relocate permanently. Respondents from the Philippines (96%), Ireland (93%), Brazil (93%), Portugal (92%), Colombia (92%), Mexico and Central America (92%) and Peru (90%) were the most likely to consider relocating for employment opportunities in the future. Respondents under 30 years old were more receptive to moving for work than their older colleagues. In terms of gender differences, men were more inclined to move for longer periods of time (four to six years or longer) while women preferred assignments varying from one to three years and less than six months. The majority of people (82%) would relocate to increase their pay and 74% would move for career advancement. 47% would move across borders for the opportunity to learn another language and, interestingly, this was the strongest reason for women (50%) to relocate for work. The most popular destinations that people would want to relocate across borders for work are the US, the UK, and Spain. This preference changed somewhat based upon the region in which respondents live. The US was the preferred destination in the Americas; China topped the list in Asia Pacific; and the UK was preferred by those in the EMEA region. The parallel Manpower Borderless Workforce survey indicates that employers are currently sourcing the largest number of foreign professionals from China, the US, India, the UK and Germany. The top ten preferred destinations for work are: US, UK, Spain; Canada, Australia, United Arab Emirates, France, Italy, Germany and Argentina. The top source countries for foreign talent are: China, US, India, UK, Germany, Japan, Spain, France, Canada and Poland. Employers expressed concern about the potential negative impact on the labor market from talent leaving their country to work abroad. These concerns are most prevalent in: Peru (82%), Argentina (66%), South Africa (65%), Taiwan (64%), India (57%) and New Zealand (52%). The exodus of talent is least concerning to employers in China (1%), Ireland (7%), Switzerland (12%), Japan (12%), the Netherlands (13%) and the U.S. (14%). Only 15% of employers worldwide think government and businesses are doing enough to slow the outward migration of talent and attract these people back to their country. The top 10 countries reporting concerns are: Germany, Peru, Italy, Belgium, Austria, United Kingdom, Argentina, Canada, Mexico and South Africa. Employers in Costa Rica (35%), China (35%), Hong Kong (35%) and Ireland (33%) were the more optimistic regarding government and business response to the issue. "In most countries, the consensus is that business and governments are not doing enough to slow outward migration, or to attract individuals back to their home country. While it's true that many governments and businesses alike need to do more to keep their most talented workers, they must also consider how they can strengthen their collective employer 'brands' to attract more talented workers from overseas to fill their talent shortages," said Joerres. Manpower's Relocating for Work survey gathered responses from over 31,574 people in 27 individual labor markets around the world including those from: Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Qatar, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and United States. Manpower Inc. is a world leader in the employment services industry. Celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2008, the 21 billion company offers employers a range of services for the entire employment and business cycle including permanent, temporary and contract recruitment; employee assessment and selection; training; outplacement; outsourcing and consulting. Manpower's worldwide network of 4,500 offices in 80 countries and territories enables the company to meet the needs of its 400,000 clients per year, including small and medium size enterprises in all industry sectors, as well as the world's largest multinational corporations. Manpower Inc. operates under five brands: Manpower, Manpower Professional, Elan, Jefferson Wells and Right Management.