UK losing war on IT exec talent

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The UK is losing more talent to other European countries than it is retaining, a major new survey has found.

The survey of more than 13,000 executives showed that the UK is suffering from a talent imbalance of eight per cent, with more senior executives seeking opportunities overseas than arriving to fill vacancies.

And, although only 13 per cent of senior candidates took up roles outside of their home country, IT executives were among those most likely to relocate, alongside executives from finance and professional services sectors.

In contrast with the UK’s talent deficit, the survey - commissioned by online European recruitment firm Experteer - found Switzerland was the most attractive economy for executive talent in Europe with a net inflow of 42 per cent.

Torsten Muth, Experteer UK managing director, said: “It is clear that the credit crunch has hit the UK hard, we have seen a significant increase in interest for overseas job placements. Talent is now far more mobile, and we see increasing numbers of footloose highly talented individuals willing to relocate across Europe.”

But the UK is not the only European country with executive retention issues. France and Germany were worse than the UK in terms of losing talent, with 14 and 12 per cent deficits respectively.

The UK also had an advantage in wage terms. Average wages for candidates shifting overseas were between €50-75,000 (£40-60,000) per annum, but they attracted significantly higher proportions of overseas candidates than other countries with the very highest remuneration levels of up €150,000 (£120,000).

However, talent coming to the UK was disproportionately restricted to London, with 57 per cent of inbound executives relocating to the UK’s capital city. This contrasts with only seven per cent of German immigrants choosing to move to Berlin.

The recruiter advised UK executives seeking opportunities overseas should be aware that remuneration by job function varies significantly across Europe. The highest rewards reserved for managing directors were found in Germany and Switzerland, while middle managers found the highest relative pay in the UK and Italy.

Of candidates taking up postings outside their country of origin, two thirds (64 per cent) originated from European countries and the remaining third (36 per cent) arrived from elsewhere in the world.

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