In an attempt to circumvent skills shortages within the telecommunications industry in Europe, businesses are prepared to relocate staff, according to a series of surveys from IT recruiter Darwin Recruitment.

One third of respondents from the businesses interviewed were extremely or very willing to relocate permanent staff with technical skills, with this figure only slightly lower for temporary workers at just under a quarter. Only 2% said that they would be unlikely to do so for permanent staff, rising to 9% for temporary.

In total, 82% had already made offers to people to work in different geographic locations from where they are currently based. 

Paul Kirby, chief executive and co-founder of Darwin, says: “For tech roles the majority of companies tend to peg to local salaries with only occasionally paying a premium for really sought after skills. Many European firms still rely on the benefits of the geographic location, tax incentives, training and other welfare benefits of the package.”

Nearly 40% of respondents felt that their company was not doing enough to attract key skills. Kirby says this is an issue that governments, educators and businesses need to address.