- Australia climbs to the top of the country comparison, with the USA and Canada in second and third place
- Austria ranks 11th out of more than 180 nations worldwide, 6th among non-English speaking countries
- No. 1 reason for moving to Austria: good quality of life
- Employees want support with finding accommodation, visas and moving
Austria climbs to sixth place among the world’s most popular work locations among non-English-speaking countries in the latest edition of the ‘Decoding Global Talent’ study. The study, conducted by digital recruiting platform The Stepstone Group in collaboration with Boston Consulting Group and The Network, is based on survey data from more than 150,000 employees from over 180 countries, including 1,700 respondents from Austria. This makes it one of the most comprehensive studies of its kind. This year, Australia leads the international rankings, followed by the USA and Canada – the front runner in 2021. Austria was able to improve by four places compared to the last survey.
International mobility is a great opportunity for the labor market
Despite global challenges such as geopolitical tensions, persistent inflation and fears of recession, according to the study, around a quarter of respondents (23 percent) are actively looking for work opportunities abroad. The proportion of people who would generally be open to moving abroad for a job remains high at 63 percent globally, although it has decreased slightly compared to the 66 percent in 2021 and 78 percent before the coronavirus pandemic in 2018 is.
However, among those surveyed in Austria, the willingness to leave the country for a job is significantly lower: less than half would want to work abroad and only just under 11 percent are currently actively looking for a job outside the Alpine republic. The top destinations for the Austrian respondents are the neighboring countries Germany and Switzerland, followed by the USA and Italy. Austria, in turn, is a particularly attractive destination country for people from Hungary (36 percent), Bosnia and Herzegovina (30 percent), Slovenia (22 percent), Serbia (20 percent) and Germany (14 percent).
According to Dr. Tobias Zimmermann, labor market expert at The Stepstone Group and co-author of the study, says Europe is facing a serious challenge in view of demographic change: “We are running out of employees,” says Zimmermann. Nikolai Dürhammer, Managing Director of Stepstone Austria and Switzerland, emphasizes: “The lack of workers threatens our prosperity in Europe and also in Austria. However, the fact that many people are willing to come to Austria for attractive jobs holds great potential, the value of which we should not underestimate. Increased cooperation between politics and business to enable the rapid and flexible integration of international workers into the labor market is essential.”
Long-term stays preferred, challenges with visas and work permits
The global study shows that Austrians usually have a lot of patience when it comes to a stay abroad: around half are aiming for a period of over three years or even a permanent change. Another quarter make the length of their stay dependent on their experiences on site, whereas only 11 percent plan to stay for less than a year.
For international talents who come to Austria, the focus is on the high quality of life when changing countries – this is crucial for 66 percent, followed by the quality of the work opportunities at 58 percent. But when it comes to visas and work permits, there is room for improvement for Austria: Germany is rated better here at 24 percent than Austria at 18 percent. Employees expect support from their future employers, especially in this area. Support in obtaining visas and work permits is important to seven out of ten respondents, right after help with finding accommodation. “With its high quality of life, Austria has a trump card in the global competition for the brightest minds. It would be a mistake to gamble away this advantage through complicated immigration procedures. In order to successfully attract talent, it is crucial that companies not only offer attractive jobs and… conditions, but also proactively provide support with bureaucratic hurdles,” says Dr. Heike Dorninger, partner and head of the Vienna BCG office.
About the “Decoding Global Talent” study
BCG, The Network (along with affiliated organizations) and The Stepstone Group conducted this anonymous online survey from October to December 2023. A total of 150,735 people took part in 188 countries, including 14,000 people in Germany. The “Decoding Global Talent” survey is being published for the fourth time in a row.
The survey asked employees’ attitudes on a variety of topics, including their willingness to move abroad for work, the countries they would most like to work in, their reasons for choosing these countries and their expectations of their future employers in a new country. The data collected in the survey (including a variety of information about the demographic and professional background of the participants) made it possible to analyze workers’ attitudes based on several parameters.
BCG also conducted follow-up surveys with selected study participants around the world – many of whom had previously been interviewed and followed over several years.
