Skip to main content

9 in 10 building professionals consider abroad move, survey shows

Professionals are being lured abroad by the prospects of a career overseas, with nine in 10 (90.72%) of those working in the built environment sector considering a move. Research into professionals’ motivations to move abroad, conducted by specialist recruitment site CareerStructure.com, reveals the considerable appeal of working overseas. The prospect of greater salaries, better career opportunities and new experiences has encouraged most of the 1,564 professionals based all over the world who responded to
August 9, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
RSSProfessionals are being lured abroad by the prospects of a career overseas, with nine in 10 (90.72%) of those working in the built environment sector considering a move.

Research into professionals’ motivations to move abroad, conducted by specialist recruitment site 7444 CareerStructure.com, reveals the considerable appeal of working overseas.

The prospect of greater salaries, better career opportunities and new experiences has encouraged most of the 1,564 professionals based all over the world who responded to the CareerStructure.com survey to consider looking abroad for their next position. But, for half of professionals, the UK is simply becoming a less attractive place to work – with a perception of lower salaries and lacking workloads.

The locations with the most lure include Dubai (63%), closely followed by Abu Dhabi (61%) and Qatar (56%). This may be due to the perception that these countries offer the best salaries, and that there are more work prospects there. Indeed, six in 10 believe Qatar has more opportunities than the UK. These regions are closely followed by English-speaking countries, with professionals keen to work in Australia (48%), Canada (43%), the US (41%), and New Zealand (34%) being similarly appealing.  

Many professionals expressed an interest in moving to work on specific projects abroad – 55% would move to China to work on Sky City, and 68% would move to Singapore to work on The Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city.

For many, this would not be a mere short-term trip: even although two-thirds already have experience of working abroad, half would move abroad on a long term basis.

Top 5 reasons for relocating were, in descending order, higher salary, good career opportunities, experience, quality of life, and good employment benefits.

A total of 111 traffic and transport-related professionals from within the overall built environment sector survey sample group took part in the research. Again, more than nine out of 10 (96.4%) saying they were considering a move abroad.

Rob Searle, commercial director of CareerStructure.com, said, “Experience abroad can potentially boost professionals employment prospects, by providing them with new opportunities and experiences. However, with such high levels of professionals considering a move abroad, it’s apparent that the UK is losing its appeal and could now potentially be losing many of its talented professionals to other countries.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Transforming bitumen for the future
    January 30, 2023
    It is easy to say that the road sector never changes, but the latest E&E Event, held last month suggests this is not true - Kristina Smith reports from Vienna
  • China's Roads Convention focuses on sustainability
    February 9, 2012
    IRF joins with key Chinese transport authorities to lead the way in efforts to make sustainable rural mobility, transport and access a reality for millions throughout the world. Jointly organised by IRF and the China Highway and Transportation Society (CHTS), together with the Shandong Provincial Transportation Department, the landmark 2nd International Convention on Rural Roads, hosted in the beautiful city of Jinan, China, marked a major step forward in global efforts to mobilise resources and knowledge f
  • Warm asphalt is a hot topic
    June 12, 2012
    Lower temperature mixes – a key advance in bitumen technology - Kristina Smith reports Warm and cold mix asphalts were not on the original agenda for this year’s Eurasphalt & Eurobitume Congress, being held in Istanbul in June. But when the organisers took a look through the papers submitted for their sustainability-themed event, they realised that this is one of the industry’s hottest topics. “We hadn’t quite anticipated the high level of research in this area,” says E&E’s technical programme committee c
  • Intermat Observatory report: road spending will dominate for 30 years
    April 23, 2018
    Road spending will dominate global infrastructure investment for the next 30 years, says a new report released at Intermat Paris 2018. According to a research project commissioned in partnership with Business France, the exhibition’s Observatory programme has revealed that €925 billion of investment is planned in Europe between now and 2050, and “the sector offering the highest development potential is roads”. Railways and buildings are the second and third biggest growth areas in Europe, the report adds.