British expats may enjoy spending their retirement and holidays in Europe, but when looking for a job, other places are more popular.
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Only one in six of British job seekers look to the 15 original member states of the European Union when hunting for work, according to a new survey.
Even the second from bottom country – Germany – generates more than twice as many job searches on the international employment portal Indeed.
The company says looking at work patterns between the different EU states is a good way of determining how freedom of movement really works.
One startling conclusion is that British job seekers are not that keen on working in the EU, but the UK is the most attractive place for other EU workers.
Job searches
Britain attracts 37% of all job searches on the portal from the 14 other original EU states – three times that of second-placed France.
One of the interesting points from the survey was the USA and India are responsible for 28% of job inquiries in the UK from outside the EU, which is more searches than the rest of the EU combined.
Seven countries from the Commonwealth and three others feature alongside EU nations in the list of global countries with people looking for work in Britain.
The key words that featured most showed the National Health Service and public sector were magnets for foreign talent.
The most popular search strings were care assistant, nurse and NHS. Other skilled roles include the search terms marketing, project manager and software engineer. Sales assistants and drivers were also near the top.
Challenge for expats
“While most Brits prefer remaining at home for their next job, this may not last forever,” says the Indeed website.
“Almost one in 10 British jobseekers searching our website are looking for a job outside the country, which is more than those from the US, China or France.”
Meanwhile, job site Jobbattical has tracked where Brits who leave the country for a short while go to work.
The top expat destinations are Germany, Malaysia, Singapore, Spain and Estonia.
“People find travel and sharing their skills in a new way in a different country a challenge,2 said a spokesman for the firm.
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