Canada grows in popularity as destination for foreign workers

Canada has topped the list as the most attractive destination for foreign workers, according to a report on global talent.

Canada managed to demote the United States for the top of the list. Canada was highly ranked by respondents with master’s degrees and doctorates, workers with digital experience, those under thirty (30) years old.

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and The Network surveyed 209,000 people in 190 different countries to understand global talent.

Their findings found that the COVID-19 pandemic played a big role in how foreign workers decided where they preferred to work. Generally, less people were interested in working abroad due to the pandemic. Only fifty percent (50%) of people showed interest in working abroad between October and December 2020. Previously, that number was 57% in 2018 and 64% in 2014.

Similarly, another factor that affected the decision of work destination rankings was how the country responded to the pandemic. There was a trend of countries with low case numbers ended up in the top ten (10).

Regular popular destinations such as Germany and France fell two (2) spots in the rankings and Italy and Spain did not make the top ten (10) list at all. Famous cities that did not handle the pandemic well (ie. New York, Rome) were less attractive destinations. However, some famous cities that were hit less by the pandemic are more popular (ie. Tokyo, Singapore, Abu Dhabi).

There were a few factors that resulted in the U.S. losing their top position on the list. One reason was decisions made by the Trump administration to tighten immigration measures. Another factor that may have affected foreign workers decisions was the social unrest in the U.S. related to racial injustice and police brutality issues that came to light recently.

About fifty-seven percent (57%) of workers were willing to work remotely. The workers were still interested in working remotely for companies in Canada and the U.S. but were more generally more reserved when is came to relocation due to the pandemic.