Hurrah! London ranked most desirable city in the world to work in

New study finds

The most comprehensive study into global talent mobility ever undertaken has crowned London the most desirable city for overseas workers worldwide, beating New York, Berlin and Barcelona*. In the four years since the first study conducted by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and totaljobs, the UK has dropped three places in overall attractiveness, from second to fifth in the country rankings.

Decoding Global Talent 2018, compiled by BCG, one of the world’s leading management consultancies, totaljobs in the UK, and The Network, a global alliance of more than 50 leading recruitment websites, is one of the most expansive studies every undertaken into workforce migration trends. Shining a spotlight on the UK’s attractiveness to global talent, the research reveals the world’s most desirable destinations for work.

 London retains top spot

London has retained its position as number one since 2014, when it was also ranked the top destination by over 200,000 workers from 189 countries. In 2018, London has once again been identified as the most desirable global city, this time by 366,000 workers from nearly 200 countries. 

London’s enduring attractiveness does not appear to have been impacted by Brexit, given its prominence as a global financial, business and cultural capital.

UK attractiveness falls

Despite London remaining the first-choice city for workers, the totaljobs and BCG research revealed that the UK has fallen from the second-most popular country worldwide for overseas workers to fifth since 2014, potentially exposing the impact of the Brexit vote two years ago. The US, Germany, Canada and Australia now all rank higher than Britain in terms of attractiveness.

The fall in the appeal of the UK amongst workers has already begun to impact work-related migration. The ONS found that net migration to the UK decreased in the year ending September 2017, with 6.5% fewer European citizens moving to the UK.

Of the countries that judge the UK most attractive to work in, the top five are in English-speaking Commonwealth nations: Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Ghana and Nigeria. The decline in the UK’s popularity is particularly apparent for residents of European countries, the UAE and China, who now pick the US, Australia, Germany or Canada as more attractive places to work.