The proportion of employees recruited into UK organisations from abroad is increasing, according to the latest Recruitment Confidence Index (RCI).
The survey, conducted by Cranfield School of Management and the Daily Telegraph, in association with Personnel Today, shows that 42% of organisations have increased their overseas recruitment over the past 12 months.
Just over half of the organisations surveyed have experienced no change in their overseas recruitment, but only 4% said that recruitment from outside of the UK had decreased.
In contrast, 82% said the proportion of staff leaving for overseas posts had remained the same over the past year, indicating that this mobility is largely one way.
During the past 12 months, UK organisations most commonly recruited from Ireland (31%) and France (30%), so it appears that UK organisations are looking to their neighbours when seeking new staff. Just over a quarter stated that they had recruited from Germany or another EU country, while just over one-fifth have recruited from the US or Canada.
Organisations were least likely to have recruited from South America, Australasia and Africa.
The most significant reasons for recruiting non-UK employees, according to respondents, were the availability of technical and language skills.
This suggests that the rise in overseas recruitment may be in response to skills shortages the UK. This is supported by the fact that 86% of the respondents who did not recruit overseas said that this was because they were able to find the required skills within the UK.
For more information on the RCI, contact emma.parry@cranfield.ac.uk or go to www.rcisurvey.co.uk
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