Global mobility | Is the UK losing its brightest to Dubai & beyond - and can employers stem the tide?

Nearly 200,000 under-35s left Britain in the first half of 2025, according to the Office for National Statistics. For some, it's a short-term adventure. For others, it’s a calculated decision to build careers elsewhere.

Recent BBC reporting has put faces to that trend. Young graduates have swapped Manchester for Tokyo under specialist visas. Entrepreneurs have relocated to Bali and Cape Town in search of sunshine and lower overheads. Others are heading to Dubai, drawn by tax-free salaries and what one interviewee described as a more “business-friendly environment”.

The ONS data shows that 195,000 people under 35 moved abroad in the year to June, with three-quarters of British nationals who emigrated in this timeframe falling into that age bracket. While the ONS has cautioned that changes in methodology make historic comparisons difficult, the direction of travel is clear: young talent is mobile, and increasingly willing to look beyond the UK.

For HR leaders, the question is no longer whether employees are tempted by sunnier shores, but whether organisations understand what it takes to retain or relocate them properly.