Dubai has been ranked in the top ten cities to move to for work for the first time, according to a report from Boston Consulting Group and The Network.
The report, titled ‘Decoding Global Talent 2018’, found that overall willingness to move abroad for work has fallen to 57 percent since BCG and The Network last conducted a study on the same topic – a drop of 7 percentage points since 2014.
Dubai ranked 6th in the survey, and while 12 per cent of respondents said they would move to Dubai to work, 22 percent chose number one-ranked London and 16 percent opted for second place New York. Berlin and Barcelona took third position with 15 percent each. Hong Kong is another non-Western city whose popularity increased in the last four years.
Abu Dhabi also moved sharply up the rankings, taking 14th place and moving into the top 30 for the first time. Dubai and Abu Dhabi were the only two Middle East cities that featured in the ranking.
The US is still the world’s most popular work destination overall. However, its attractiveness has faltered recently and dropped in rankings amid the volatility of its national politics, to people in Mexico and to those in a dozen other countries where it was previously the number-one choice.
The study also found that workers are more attracted by workplace rewards on offer with potential new jobs in other countries, such as those provided by good interpersonal office relationships, than compensation.
The survey was conducted among 366,000 workers and 6,000 recruiters across 197 countries, although BCG did not provide the total number of survey responses.
