80% of people surveyed in our recent Shaping the Engineering Landscape of the Future are prepared to work on engineering projects overseas.
Increasing global demand is adding pressure on engineers to be more mobile and consider working outside of their country of residence. In a recent survey we asked if engineers would be willing to move abroad and if so what it would take to entice them to do so? The results show that the UK is mobile with 80% of the engineers interviewed told us they would be willing to travel or relocate for work, even if that means going abroad.
The main enticing factor for engineers to work overseas is the potential remuneration on offer as a part of the relocation package for working far away from home. Another potential driver for engineers to relocate abroad is to experience a different culture and lifestyle of another country.
Gaining experience is a third driver and in a competitive market, engineers with international exposure could be a big tick on candidates CVs. The experience of working internationally will help give engineers a competitive advantage over their peers and provide them with an opportunity to stand out from the crowd in their future career.
While there are many reasons for a potential move, there are also a number of motivators, to stay at home. Family and friends are the key reason engineers are reluctant to move abroad with 51% of respondents stating this as the core deterrent. Another two deterrents visas and remuneration (21.4% and 17% respectively) are seen as less of a preventative for engineers making the move abroad as they can be resolved by working with recruiters and potentially employers to assist in the process.
Engineers are more willing to move if the transition is easy and the price is right, however employers need to focus on the family element and consider including travel options in their package if they want to attract the UK workforce.