As the global economy still struggles to recover, workers in Mexico, Brazil, Russia, Turkey and India seem particularly eager to seize the opportunities that will be given to them. On the contrary, Swedes, Americans and Belgians prefer to stay in their homeland, according to the Ipsos poll.
About two out of ten (20%) respondents answered that they would be very likely to emigrate for 2-3 years if they were given a 10% increase. Another three in ten (30%) said it was a possibility they would seriously consider.
"Half of the workforce in 24 countries is willing to go abroad," said Keren Gottfried, director of research at the polling company, calling the percentage "huge."
"Given the growing globalization of our world and the fact that employers consider international experience a qualification, it is no surprise that so many people are interested in leaving their homeland," he explained.
The main motivation for employees is the highest salary (at a rate of 40%) followed by better living conditions, career advancement, the pursuit of adventure and change. They also consider it a very important motivation to be able to return to their old job after a two-year stay abroad.
The employees who are most likely to seize the opportunities are young, unmarried men with low incomes and low education, and senior company executives. "I think that's because when you're young you usually haven't started a family yet," Gottfried said.
The reasons given by those who "refused" to emigrate, apart from the fact that they considered the increase they would be given "insufficient", were often related to the commitments they had already made: 30% said they did not want to leave friends and family of.
When asked if they would be willing to move to another city to work, three in ten said they were open to such a possibility and about four in ten (37%) said they would seriously consider it.
Ipsos, which conducted the survey on behalf of the Canadian Workers' Relocation Council, asked workers from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Britain, Hungary and India. , Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the USA.
Source: SigmaLive