Is the global labour market freeing up again and are people still as keen to move abroad for work?

As the world emerges from the GFC it is clear that people have very different attitudes to work and their employment situations. Stabilityand security are now far bigger priorities than ever before which has had a knock-on affect to the liquidity of global labour markets.

During the years proceeding 2010 it was fair to say that gainful employment in banking was at times a week to week proposition and a commodity that few were willing to go “long” on. The real question is – has this period of uncertainty drained the spirit of some global career aspirants? And are there a lot of people who to this day that remain in their secure roles in cities they resided in prior to the downturn. During the GFC it appears that most unemployed professional sought refuge in one of two ways – many decided to trade their desks for the open road and a wave of “Gucci Backpackers” made their way across South East Asia or India desperate to try and blend in with the Gap year lot although most failed by virtue of expensive time-pieces or the like the others migrated back to their native countries and tried to resurrect their career.

During the first half of 2010 we have certainly seen fewer international moves than we expected although the appetite from employers to hire people from offshore seems to becoming more and more prevalent. There is no doubt that the traffic of professionals moving nowadays is largely dependant on level and personal circumstances rather than by skills. The traditional right of passage to London which 100,000’s of Aussie/Kiwis used to embark on is definitely resurrecting itself as young professionals focus more on life experience rather than exclusively on career. This “drain” on resources in Asia Pac was traditionally offset by the same number of Europeans and returning Antipodeans however at this point we observe that the incoming traffic has certainly not picked up at the same rate.

David Barr
Director of Robert Walters, Sydney
david.barr@robertwalters.com.au