In the second part of our series on immigration, we explore which countries are best for expats to build a career.
Every year, InterNations, a network which helps expats settle in to a new country, carries out a range of surveys called Expat Insider. These surveys address various aspects of expat life, ranking countries according to factors such as the best and worst places to live, the easiest places to settle and the cost of living.
One of the reasons people move to a new country is to improve their career prospects, so in this post we’re going to discuss the results of the Working Abroad Index. The index is based on interviews with at least 50 expats (and in many cases up to 100) in 67 countries about job satisfaction, work- life balance and job security1.
After appearing in the top three each year since the survey was first carried out in 2014, Luxembourg was ranked first in 2016. This may come as something of a surprise, as one of Europe’s smallest countries isn’t an obvious destination for people moving overseas. However, 76% of respondents claimed to be generally satisfied with their jobs, while 67% were pleased with their career prospects. Luxembourg was also rated highly for work- life balance (79%) and job security (81%)2.
For the second ranked country, we need to look to the east. Taiwan was a newcomer to the list in 2016 but went straight in at number two. 82% of expats said they were satisfied with their job and 81% reported being happy about their job security3.
Germany came third. As you might expect, 68% of respondents were attracted by the country’s strong economy and labour market. 71% claimed to be generally happy about their level of job security, while 69% said they were pleased with their work- life balance. 64% of expats were satisfied with their jobs and 66% were optimistic about their career prospects 4.
The biggest climbers in the index last year were Hungary, Romania and India, particularly in the areas of job satisfaction and career prospects. Moving in the opposite direction were Mozambique, where career prospects have plunged, and Ecuador and Qatar, driven by a lack of confidence in their economies.
If you’re thinking of moving abroad and you need help choosing a destination, you can find the full list of surveys here.
Keep an eye out for our next blog in this series, where we’ll look at how immigration benefits the host economy.
References
1. https://www.internations.org/expat-insider/2016/working-abroad-index
