Moving abroad for work remains a dream for many workers around the world, with 23% of professionals actively looking for jobs in other countries and 63% expressing a general willingness to do so.
As for Serbs, only 11% of them are actively looking for work abroad, according to a new report published by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), The Network and The Stepstone Group. The report is based on the responses of more than 150,000 workers from 188 countries, reports eKapija.
According to the survey, which was repeated in 2023 after 2018 and 2020, the most popular destinations globally for job seekers are Australia, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Germany, while the most popular cities are Amsterdam, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and New York, along with London . Serbia is ranked as the 106th most desirable destination for working abroad, which is an improvement over the 108th place in 2018.
While 20% of Serbs were actively looking for a job abroad in 2018, that number decreased to 15% in 2020 and further declined to 11% in 2023. In contrast to international trends, the number of Serbs who would accept remote work for a foreign employer remained at 70%, which is higher than the global average of 66%, but slightly decreased from 73% in 2020. Globally, this number increased from 57% in 2020.
Serbs would prefer to work in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, but the top 10 destinations also include the United States of America, Italy, Spain, Slovenia, Sweden, Norway and Canada. More than the global trend, 36% of Serbs would work abroad for an extended period, meaning indefinitely, compared to only 29% globally.
Countries from which people would like to come to Serbia to work are mainly Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Austria. The most frequently cited reasons for moving to Serbia were the hospitable culture and family-oriented environment.
