The UK is losing talent to the European Union, according to Linkedin’s April Workforce Report, which examines job movement across the professional networking site’s 24m members in the UK.
The UK saw a net outflow of professionals to the 27 member nations of the EU (EU27) in Q1 2018, as fewer EU27 resident professionals moved to Britain and more professionals in the UK head to Europe. Migration from EU27 nations into the UK has been falling steadily since the referendum vote and is down 26 per cent over the last year.
The LinkedIn Workforce Report is designed to provide members, businesses and policymakers with evidence-based insights into the changing shape of the UK workforce. This month the report includes the results of an independent ‘Recruiter Sentiment’ survey that gauges UK based in-house and agency recruiters’ confidence in their ability to fill available roles.
According to UK recruiters, 35 per cent have seen a fall in the number of hires from France and Germany over the last quarter, and 44 per cent think the UK is less attractive to EU27 candidates as a result of Brexit, based on conversations with candidates.
Josh Graff, UK Country Manager at LinkedIn, comments:“Changes in migration take a long time to bear out – but today we can see that the UK has gone from being a country that gains talent from EU nations, to one that loses professionals to them. For business leaders there are three things you can do now: talk to your HR team and find out what impact this is having on you, consider new sources of talent – including upskilling existing employees, and make sure you have conveyed your talent needs to professional associations and the government.’’
Graff continues: “The last two years have also seen a fall in the number of workers moving to the UK from elsewhere in the world. This isn’t people anticipating new visa rules; instead the perception of the UK being a good place to advance your career appears to have faltered. The UK is still a fantastic place to do business, and those thinking about relocating here should bear in mind that the caution of others could be their opportunity.’’
The Workforce Report data showed that the fall in professional migration from the EU can be seen across all EU27 nations, including the EU15. Of the EU nations, the number of Irish professionals moving to the UK has fallen the most since the Brexit vote, with professional migration down 37 per cent over the past year.
