Growth attracts international talent into the UK job market

Recruiter report claims that skills gaps in the growing UK job market are attracting foreign talent.

The UK’s economic recovery is the envy of many other countries. While even some developed economies are struggling to get back into a growth phase, workers from around the world are increasingly looking to the UK for a fresh wave of opportunities. They’re also helping to fill the skills gaps exposed by fresh demand.

According to one expert, talent from struggling economies elsewhere are flocking to the UK to continue this trend.

Speaking to City AM, chief executive of recruitment firm Matchtech Adrian Gunn explained that the UK has a major skills shortage and talent from overseas is becoming ever more important to redress the balance.

At the same time, pay offers are becoming increasingly generous for the right highly skilled candidates.

“Due to the skills shortage, candidates tend to have multiple job offers, but also are receiving quite a lucrative counter offer from their current employer to stay put,” he explained.

But he added that the recruitment sector is not necessarily seeing huge benefits from the transition. Salaries may be rising for the people they place – Mr Gunn says highly skilled workers are likely to see a five per cent wage hike in the next year.

Yet recruiters are seeing their fees rise only slowly. After all, candidates with multiple offers are taking longer to make a decision, and longer recruitment processes are “putting a handbrake” on fee rises.

Sectors where talent deficits are particularly acute are more likely to see higher proportions of candidates from countries with weaker economies.

For example, Mr Gunn explained that 78 per cent of the candidates interviewed for electronic engineering roles in automotives were from abroad, with Spain and Italy the biggest contributors.

It’s no surprise that talent from abroad is looking to the UK. Just last week a survey from Boston Consulting Group found that nearly four out of ten workers surveyed worldwide would consider coming to work in Britain. The capital looks like their prime destination – London was the single most popular city in the world where workers said they would live.