More global employees ready to move abroad for work: poll

TORONTO—One quarter of employees in 24 countries say they would be ‘very likely’ to take a full-time job in another country for two to three years with a 10 per cent pay increase, a new poll shows.

But while one quarter of current employees are ready to make the move—up from 19 per cent from last year—the Canadian Employee Relocation Council (CERC) findings show almost half (45 per cent) strongly agree that they could be convinced to take an international assignment ‘if the incentive package from my employer was right’, or ‘if my employer provides support for my spouse to get a job there, too’ (41 per cent).

Alternatively, 35 per cent of employees agree ‘there is nothing my employer could do to convince me to take an international assignment’.

In Canada, almost two in ten (18 per cent) are ‘very likely’, three in ten are ‘somewhat likely’, 27 per cent are ‘not very likely’ and 26 per cent say they are ‘not at all likely’ to accept an international move.

Four in ten (42 per cent) global employees ‘strongly agree’ ‘the country that the foreign assignment would send me to is a major factor in my decision to relocate or not’.

Canada was tied for third with Australia as a desirable country to relocate to, behind the United States and United Kingdom, which ranked first and second, respectively.