In a world that's becoming more globalized and interconnected, moving to another country for work has become ever easier, language barriers notwithstanding, especially for specialized white-collar workers. According to the most recent edition of their Decoding Global Talent survey by consulting firm Boston Consulting Group, London remains the top destination for employees willing to switch their home base. As our chart shows, cities located in the Middle East and Asia have become more enticing for workers between 2018 and 2020 as well.
For example, 11 percent of survey respondents could imagine moving to Abu Dhabi, Tokyo and Singapore, translating into an improvement by nine, four and eight positions, respectively, compared to the 2018 ranking. More traditional and long-running hot spots like New York and Barcelona fell by six and five ranks. Amsterdam and Dubai complete the top 3, with 15 and 14 percent of respondents claiming they were willing to move to this city for work, respectively.
The survey conducted between October and December 2020 cites efforts by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to push for a more attractive image and an increase in the Gulf state's soft power, as well as an at-the-time effective coronavirus response strategy by Asian cities like Tokyo and Singapore as possible reasons for their jump in attractiveness. The Gulf states in particular have long been immigration hot spots. For example, in 2023, nine million people living in the UAE or 88.5 percent of the country's population were foreign nationals. Roughly half of these foreign nationals are from India (27.49 percent of the country's population), Pakistan (12.69 percent) and Bangladesh (7.40 percent).
This perceived attractiveness often comes at a price, though. According to the 2023 Mercer Cost of Living City Ranking, Singapore was ranked the second-most expensive city for international workers. Among the 227 cities analyzed, New York City (6), London (17) and Tokyo (19) also placed in the top 20.
