More than eight in 10 UK employers recruit staff from overseas, according to the latest Recruitment Confidence Index (RCI).
The research, carried out by Cranfield School of Management in association with Personnel Today and the Daily Telegraph, shows that 42% of employers have increased their overseas recruitment in the past three months.
Nearly one in four (23%) take a pan-European approach, and more than one in 10 (12%) have a global perspective on hiring talent. One in five employers (20%) say it is important senior staff spend time overseas.
One in four public bodies (25%) rate overseas experience as important for their senior teams compared with 19% of private firms.
Michael Dickmann, director of Cranfield’s Centre for Research into the Management of Expatria-tion, said for most employers the benefits outweigh the costs. But 45% of respondents say they do not recruit overseas owing to sourcing problems.
Feedback from the profession
David Pappie Global manager of attraction and recruitment, Shell
“We are particularly concerned with the decline in technical skills among graduates. We are increasingly reliant on recruiting people from overseas to meet our needs.”
Danny Kalman European HR director, Panasonic
“We have to work in different cultures and different environments. To make things work we have to understand this.”
Kathryn Wainwright Director of talent management, Barclays
“Having people with more international experience is critical. We must have people who can respond to our customers’ needs.”
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Lisa Grainger Emerging talent manager, Tarmac
“The best managers we have are those that can work with people from different cultures. These young people already have the mobility, languages and experience we need.”
