Global survey reveals sharp rise in openess to job mobility

Totaljobs.com, The Network and Intelligence Group complete the largest ever survey on international labour mobility, with 66,000 responses from 68 countries.

Totaljobs.com, The Network and Intelligence Group have successfully completed the research phase of the largest ever survey on international labour market mobility. Initial analysis shows a substantial jump in the willingness of staff to move abroad to get the right job, with 72% of participants, compared to 62% in 2006, willing to relocate. Even more dramatically, 46% of respondents now say they are willing to work abroad for an extended period, against 29% in 2006.

ìClearly, the global recession has given people a much stronger incentive to be mobile,î said Steven Lewis, International Sales Director at totaljobs and MD of The Network. ìWe have been surprised both by the number of people who wanted to take this survey, and by this substantial shift in attitudes to job mobility. And thereís a lesson here for employers – be ready to look outside national boundaries if you want to find real talent.î

Expecting 50,000 people to participate at the survey, The Network and Intelligence Group are very pleased to announce that this number has been substantially over-achieved, reaching 66,000 participants. ëThe Networkí was created in October 2002 to provide international recruiters with unrivalled access to online recruitment services through a network of leading local sites. The Network covers more than 100 countries and has a combined traffic of more than 47,000,000 unique visitors per month.

The study involved countries from all around the world including nations as diverse as Canada, Malaysia, Denmark and Morocco. In total, 40 participating Network countries gathered responses from job seekers spread over 68 countries from all continents. The survey was also translated into 14 different languages, including Arabic and Russian, to ensure that local candidate behaviours and the impact of different national attitudes and practices on international mobility could be analysed fully.

Intelligence Group has now entered into the analytical phase of the process. The expected research deliverables, intended not only for large, international recruiters seeking insights into talent mobility, but also for the public sector and international organisations, and for the education sector, will be white papers, seminars and workshops. The first results will be released during October 2009.