Middle East tops Anglosphere for UK construction workers looking to build career

The UAE and Qatar are seen as top locations to advance a career in construction, according to the 91% of built environment professionals who tells a survey from specialist job site CareerStructure.com that they would be interested in moving abroad to work.
Wed, 21 Aug 2013The UAE and Qatar are seen as top locations to advance a career in construction, according to the 91% of built environment professionals who tells a survey from specialist job site CareerStructure.com that they would be interested in moving abroad to work.

CareerStructure's survey of 1,562 users finds that 63% of those interested in work overseas would consider Dubai, closely followed by Abu Dhabi (61%) and Qatar (56%).

These regions are closely followed by English-speaking countries, with professionals keen to work in Australia (48%), Canada (43%), the US (41%) and New Zealand (34%).

However, specific projects often held more appeal than countries in themselves, with 68% saying they would move to Singapore to work on The Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city and 55% keen on opportunities in China's Sky City.

Half of survey respondents say they would move abroad on a long-term basis. Overall, higher salary was the top motivator for considering a move.

Rob Searle, commercial director of CareerStructure, says: “Experience abroad can potentially boost professional’s employment prospects, by providing them with new opportunities and experiences. With such high levels of professionals considering a move abroad, it’s apparent that the UK is losing its appeal and could now potentially be losing many of its talented professionals to other countries.”

This comes the same week as news that a new cap due to be put on UK bankers' bonuses is leading their employers to fear talent flight overseas, and follows last week's news that UK workers' average pay dropped in real terms at one of the sharpest rates in the EU.

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