The number of overseas workers seeking jobs in Britain surged in August, hitting its highest level since December 20181, according to new data released by the world’s largest job site, Indeed.
Indeed’s analysis of searches for UK roles made by international jobseekers showed interest in August was 140% higher than its lowest level of the year, which came on 24th March, the day after lockdown was imposed. In August alone, the share of searches coming from overseas workers rose by 86.2%.
In previous years, December and January have typically seen the biggest spikes in international searches, as workers often use the beginning of the year to explore a fresh start abroad.
However foreign interest in UK jobs in January 2020 – the month Brexit happened – was 16% lower than the same month in 2019, and 12% down on January 2018.
Official data suggests Brexit and Covid have combined to drive down the number of foreign workers actually moving to the UK. In the 12 months to the end of June, the Home Office granted 22% fewer work-related visas to foreigners than it did the previous year2, making the August spike revealed by Indeed’s data all the more striking.
With UK and EU negotiators now into their eighth round of Brexit trade talks, Indeed found the greatest overseas interest in UK jobs came from non-EU countries. India, which at 11.8% accounted for the biggest share of international searches, was followed by the United States with 7.4% and the Republic of Ireland with 5.4%.
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