Ninety-seven per cent of Singaporeans would consider leaving Singapore to work overseas — the biggest proportion in Asia, a poll by recruiting firm Hays showed.
The poll, released on Monday (March 30), found that 85 per cent of respondents would leave for better job opportunities, career development or exposure.
Twelve per cent would leave for a change in lifestyle.
The poll was conducted among 2,553 job seekers in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China and Japan.
China had the second most globally-mobile workforce, with 96 per cent of job seekers willing to work overseas, with better job opportunities, career development or exposure being the key reasons.
The figure for Hong Kong was 94 per cent and 93 per cent for Malaysia, with most job seekers citing better opportunities, career development or exposure as the factors that would nudge them to leave.
Japan had a lower proportion of job seekers who indicated they were willing to work overseas — 88 per cent.
However, it had the biggest proportion of job seekers citing lifestyle factors as a reason for leaving, at 23 per cent.
Ms Christine Wright, managing director of Hays in Asia, said the opportunity to gain international experience is the top factor driving local talent overseas.
Employers increasingly value local talent with “international experience and an international mindset”.
“These candidates are even more highly valued than expatriates since they combine their Westernised way of thinking and experience of how business is done overseas with local cultural understanding,” she said.
Source: www.todayonline.com
