Data from global jobs site Monster.co.uk shows the number of workers from the EU actively searching for jobs in the UK has dropped by 12.6% year on year since the referendum decision in 2016. Over the past three years searches have decreased by nearly a third (31%).
Since the vote to leave the EU, UK organisations have seen the biggest decrease in interest from Romanian job seekers, with traffic dropping by 53%. Traffic from Portuguese and Italian job seekers has also decreased dramatically, by 48% and 46% respectively.
| Country | Drop in searches from EU locations |
| Romania | 53.4% |
| Portugal | 48.3% |
| Italy | 45.9% |
| Denmark | 42.9% |
| Greece | 41.7% |
| Belgium | 41.5% |
| Spain | 41.4% |
| France | 40.8% |
| Netherlands | 34.4% |
| Slovenia | 33.0% |
Despite significant decreases from various EU countries, Monster.co.uk’s data shows British businesses have seen increased interest from job seekers across a number of countries, with Ireland (19%), Hungary (16%) and Poland (14%) leading the way.
| Country | Increase in searches from EU locations |
| Ireland | 19.27% |
| Hungary | 16.03% |
| Poland | 14.47% |
| Austria | 2.87% |
| Croatia | 1.49% |
Lou Goodman, marketing director, UK & Ireland at Monster.co.uk said, “While the proportion of international traffic from outside the EU has increased a fall in active searches from EU Countries in the wake of the 2016 referendum could leave UK businesses unable to fill critical skilled roles, and things could get even more challenging.
“With the Brexit deadline now delayed, there is a huge amount of uncertainty on what, if any, deal the UK is going to leave the EU with. One thing that does seem certain is that we will likely end up with controlled movement of EU workers, further restricting the supply of labour. This matters, at a time of rising vacancies and our lowest jobless rate in 44-years.
“Employers will have to up their recruitment game – focusing on passive job seekers – those not actively looking. Traditional methods of pursuing active jobs seekers are no longer enough, with 51% of all candidates now wanting to be found rather than search for jobs themselves.
“One of our best performing products are Power Job Ads that captures the attention of passive job seekers during their everyday lives on places like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, as well as targeting relevant users on 100s of other sites including lifestyle and news sites. We’re already seeing a conversion rate two to three times higher than traditional job ads.”
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