Flight risk | 4.5 million Brits considering moving abroad for work

Over 4.5 million UK workers are considering moving overseas for a better quality of life, as a result of the cost of living crisis and for better career opportunities as research from Totaljobs shows businesses are struggling to recruit both at home and abroad.

The latest Totaljobs Hiring Trends Index, which offers an up-to-date view of the labour market and recruitment trends, found that challenges to recruit and retain staff remain, compounded with a potential talent drain as workers consider opportunities overseas for a better quality of life amongst the cost of living crisis.

The research found that 79% of businesses recruited in Q2 2022 (April to June), a slight increase on the 78% reported in the previous quarter.

The top three roles recruited for this quarter were operations (29%), IT/tech (22%) and sales (18%), with 6.7 weeks being the average time taken to hire a new role, an increase of 2 weeks compared to the previous quarter (4.3 weeks). Looking ahead to Q3, 50% of businesses are confident they will recruit the people they need; a dip compared to 54% in Q1.