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Bad news and good news: Germany is losing popularity on the global job market - but it is still fourth out of 190 countries and the most popular non-English-speaking country.
A total of 208,000 employees in 190 nations, including around 9,000 in Germany, were surveyed online at the end of last year: Whether they are willing to work abroad, where their preferred locations are and what preferences they have when it comes to digital work.
The study carried out jointly by the management consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and The Network, an association of job exchanges in 130 countries co-founded by the Stepstone job platform, is already the third of its kind In the years 2014 and 2018, long-term trends also emerged.
The willingness to go abroad is falling rapidly
The willingness to go abroad had already decreased before the corona pandemic.
At the moment, just under half of those surveyed can imagine moving to another country;
In 2018 it was 57 percent, in 2014 even 64 percent.
However, there were four years between these two figures;
the current examination took place at an interval of only two years.
So the curve drops off quite steeply.
The authors of the study blame not only the corona restrictions for the renewed decline in willingness to be mobile, but also nationalist tendencies such as those in the USA or Great Britain - and the fact that mobile working continues to prevail.
Of those surveyed in Germany, only 45 percent said they were ready to move abroad - and then prefer to move into the immediate vicinity: five neighboring countries are among the top ten preferred countries, with Switzerland and Austria at the top.
The USA and Canada are also popular with Germans.
The USA loses first place for the first time
For the first time in eight years, the USA is no longer the top destination, but only in second place.
Canada is right at the top now.
In third place: Australia.
Germany ranks fourth but is the most popular country in Europe and the most popular non-English speaking country.
Canada in particular, according to the study, is characterized by a pronounced welcoming culture towards migrants.
Asian countries are also moving up on the wish list.
A pattern is emerging: "The countries that do well were good at fighting pandemics," sums up Stepstone boss Sebastian Dettmers.
These include mainly Asian countries such as Singapore, Japan and New Zealand.
"We see the opposite effect in those countries that were hit hard by Covid-19 in spring 2020 - such as Italy, Spain or France."
Despite Brexit, London is still the most popular metropolis in the hit list of cities, followed by Amsterdam, Dubai and Berlin.
But the differences are not huge: 18 percent of those surveyed would like to move to London and 13 percent to Berlin.
For employees with a master's degree or doctorate, Berlin even ranks second.
Munich comes in 26th (2018: 23), Hamburg on 35th (2018: 32).
New York fell from second to eighth.
Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Tokyo and Singapore, on the other hand, have become more popular.
Is »virtual mobility« the way out?
Overall, Germans want to work abroad less than other nations - this is also due to the comparatively high standard of living here.
"The talent market is becoming global," says HR management expert and BCG partner Rainer Strack.
While physical mobility has been drastically reduced, virtual mobility has increased dramatically.
The survey shows: Around half of the employees would also work for an employer who is not even represented in the country in which they live - mobile working is increasingly simply becoming normal.
According to the study's authors, this “virtual mobility” could help to discover new talent pools and promote diversity.
"Compared to the previous studies, we see clear, hard breaks," says Strack.
"The corona pandemic has catapulted us ten years into the future." But in a global market there will also be clear losers in the battle for talent.
Strack believes that Germany therefore needs an employer branding strategy - it has to act like a company that makes itself as attractive as possible as an employer.
"This includes strategic personnel planning: which talents do we need, which ones do we want to promote and attract?"
Mobile working could play a crucial role in this.
“So far it was like this: large German corporations had their headquarters in Germany - if you wanted to work there, you had to live nearby.
You can do that differently in the future.
If you stop recruiting around the church tower, teams also become more diverse.
This could level out the disadvantages of the location - and perhaps also create a little more justice. "
Stepstone boss Sebastian Dettmers also thinks: “Germany must be attractive to foreign skilled workers, whether they work here virtually or physically.
The country is attractive, but there are no great visions for the future.
We have to ask ourselves: what problem does Germany want to solve?
We could make the climate problem a national task, but the automation of productions could also become an export hit. ”He was surprised at how rapidly the willingness to move abroad was falling.
Mobile working can partly replace physical presence, but it is still important that people meet each other personally and are out and about in other cultures.
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