Expats find jobs despite ongoing economic crisis

2010-06-17
by Jeannette Jordan / Expatica

Top-level professionals, earning an average of USD 125,000 per year, continue to find jobs outside their home countries despite the recession, reveals recent survey

You may have heard the saying, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.” It appears that is exactly what elite professionals around the world are doing. A newly-released survey says top-level professionals, earning an average of USD 125,000 (EUR 98,000) per year, are not slowing down when it comes to looking for work outside their home countries. The same group of mid- to senior- level professionals also says they are still finding jobs, despite the global recession.

According to the 2010 Hydrogen Global Professionals on the Move Report, more than 3,000 professionals from 76 nations said they were actively looking for work abroad or had already found jobs outside their home countries. Of that group, 60 percent said the global recession had no impact on their job search.

More women work abroad
The study included men and women from Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East; most over 31 years old. According to this report, while more men were willing to work abroad; more women were actually working abroad.

Abigail Waudby, the director of Hydrogen Group Singapore office, explains: “We’re seeing companies increasingly focus on gender diversity, particularly at the more senior end of the professional market. This creates a lot of opportunity for successful females to mobilise their careers, especially in Asia and the Middle East, where the shortage of senior level female professionals is greater.”

Expats need to widen job search arenas
According to the Hydrogen report, most respondents listed the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia among their most desired places to relocate. However, recruitment consultants say both men and women, looking for work abroad, need to widen their job search arenas.

The experts say there is a greater demand right now for elite professionals in countries such as Singapore and United Arab Emirates. But, recruiters are reporting less demand for elite professionals in countries such as the United States.

In terms of why these elite professionals wanted to move abroad; the reasons were both personal and professional. Some said they wanted to ‘fast track’ their careers; while others wished to improve their quality of living.

“The busier people are, the higher the value they place on issues like quality of life,” says Claudia Jonczyk, Ph.D. and Associate Professor of Organisation Studies at ESCP Europe, School of Management.

Some trends don’t change
The findings of the 2010 Hydrogen study are quite similar to what we learned from Expatica readers prior to the financial crisis. In a 2007 Expatica – Cranfield School of Management survey, Expatica readers, of various work levels, told us virtually the same thing. Their motivation to relocate abroad was also fuelled by personal and professional reasons. Of the 522 respondents in our survey, 42.6 percent indicated a considerable to strong desire to simply ‘see the world;’ while another 46.4 percent wanted to grow their careers.

http://www.expatica.com/be//employment/employment_information/Expats-find-jobs-despite-ongoing-economic-crisis.html