Survey: Young people around the world are eager to work abroad

May 14, 2011

People all over the world are beginning to realize that the job market is becoming increasingly global and that international experience is becoming a standard asset to list on a resume. In response to this trend, candidates from various countries – especially young people – are embracing international work as one of the steps in building their careers.

These findings are part of a study conducted by the workforce solutions firm, Kelly Services. The Kelly Global Workforce Index polled nearly 100,000 people in 30 countries around the world between October 2010 and January 2011.

Of the survey respondents, more than three-quarters expressed willingness to move for the right job, and 34 percent were even willing to move to another continent for the right career opportunity.

The survey found that around the world, the younger the survey respondent was, the more likely he or she was to express great willingness to travel for career development. Baby Boomers, those aged 48 to 65, were the most unwilling to move for the right job, with only 63 percent saying they’d do so. Generation X workers aged 30 to 47 were more willing to travel for work, with 76 percent saying they’d relocate for the right opportunity.

The youngest generation of professionals to enter the global workforce – those aged 18 to 29 – were overwhelmingly the most willing to relocate for their careers, with 85 percent of them saying they’d be willing to do so.

Managers who hire temporary international interns to work in their companies with the help of a cultural exchange organization often validate the study’s findings. Young professionals from around the world are not only motivated enough to travel far from their homes to advance their careers and attain crucial sector-specific knowledge, but they are also excited by the prospect of working for an American company. Their eagerness to learn makes them excellent trainees, and their unique backgrounds guarantee that they’ll have a lot to bring to the company and its workforce.

When these trainees return to their countries of origin, they’ll have gotten a substantial career boost from their time with an American firm, while their American coworkers will have acquired the kind of cultural understanding that’s becoming more valuable in an increasingly globalized business world.