The UK labour market is on the verge of a brain drain, with UK businesses struggling to retain home-grown talent, according to research from Harvey Nash.
The survey quizzed 500 senior decision makers and found that 49% of UK employers are concerned that their highly-skilled professionals could soon be jumping ship for job opportunities abroad.
The Office of National Statistics (ONS) is due to release figures later this week detailing the number of emigrants leaving the UK. A record 400,000 works left the country in 2006 but the latest figures are expected to beat that number.
The survey also found that 25% of employers are already feeling the effects of the brain drain and 33% of respondents are struggling to recruit skilled UK candidates. Two in five (40%) expressed concern about their ability to retain skilled staff.
The vast majority of respondents (72%) blamed the increasing cost of living in the UK for encouraging skilled workers to look for jobs abroad.
Harvey Nash CEO Albert Ellis, said British companies should be doing more to retain skilled workers. “We have a wealth of knowledge, experience and skill in the UK that needs to be nurtured and developed for the future success of the British economy,” he said.
“As the economic climate continues to deteriorate, and redundancies loom large for many in formal employment, employers cannot be complacent about available talent. On the contrary, it’s at times like this when we can ill afford to lose our best people. If we don’t act fast to keep highly skilled talent in the UK labour market by boosting job satisfaction and career opportunities, we run the risk of conceding our competitive edge to other countries.”
Respondents to the survey agreed with Ellis. 30% of those quizzed felt that greater job satisfaction and improved career prospects would help to retain workers. Salary and work/life balance followed on 29% and 25% respectively.
