There are increasing complaints in the economy about a decline in German competitiveness. This obviously does not apply to the labor market. Even if Germany has lost some of its appeal.
According to an international survey, Germany is still attractive for foreign workers. In the survey of 150,000 employees from 188 countries, Germany came in fifth place in the ranking of the most popular work locations, making it the first non-English-speaking country behind Australia, the USA, Canada and Great Britain.
The management consultancy Boston Consulting Group, the job exchange Stepstone and its umbrella organization The Network published the study. Employees living in Germany, on the other hand, are generally not drawn to travel far away.
In 2018, Germany was in second place
The participants were surveyed from October to December last year. On an international average, almost a quarter of those surveyed were actively looking for a job abroad, and over 60 percent would generally be willing to move to another country. In a comparison over several years, the Federal Republic has apparently lost some of its appeal: in 2018, Germany was still in second place.
According to the survey, however, employees in Germany are comparatively sedentary: only seven percent of the 14,000 people surveyed in this country were looking for a job abroad, including both locals and immigrants. Switzerland and Austria were named as preferred destinations. This is also a rather low rate compared to Italy, Great Britain or the USA, where more than twice as many people declared that they wanted to work abroad.
The willingness to migrate for work is highest in several African countries, with Ghana at the top at 74 percent. In India it was 54 percent and in Turkey 35 percent. According to the survey, this also applies to highly qualified people: the answers from academics in the respective countries were evaluated separately, whose willingness to move abroad differs only slightly from employees without a degree.
London most popular
According to the survey, the most popular city in the world is London, ahead of Amsterdam and Dubai. Berlin is also one of the top places in sixth place. For the vast majority of respondents, the decisive criterion when moving abroad is not the country or a specific metropolis, but rather the attractiveness of the job offer.
In the competition for workers from abroad, companies that offer employees coming from abroad attractive working conditions and organizational support would win, said BCG consultant Jens Baier, one of the study authors. Baier cited applying for work permits as an example. “And unfortunately that is often still very difficult in Germany.”
Source: Stern
