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EU workers look elsewhere for jobs as UK loses appeal

Fewer overseas EU residents are searching for jobs in the UK - EPA
Fewer overseas EU residents are searching for jobs in the UK - EPA

Fewer European workers want to move to jobs in the UK as Brexit appears to have made foreign staff think twice about coming to the country.

Meanwhile, more people in Britain are looking for work abroad, particularly in Ireland, according to data from jobs website Indeed.

The number of searches for UK jobs from other EU countries fell sharply in the wake of the Brexit vote and has remained low – so far this year it is down 18pc.

The UK is still the most popular destination in Europe among jobseekers, with 33.8pc of all searches, but that is down from 37.2pc last year.

Meanwhile the number of searches for Irish jobs from the UK are up 11pc.

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“Overall, we are seeing a sharper and longer decline in interest in working in the UK than in previous ‘shock drops’ following last year’s referendum,” said economist Mariono Mamertino at Indeed. “As Brexit moves from rhetoric to reality, the strain on Britain’s strong but tight labour market will worsen.

“While European traffic to the UK has declined, Indeed is noting that countries like Ireland, followed by France and Germany, could be benefiting from additional interest levels from European jobseekers.”

Despite the strong supply of workers from elsewhere in the EU, UK unemployment has fallen to 40-year lows. In March the unemployment rate fell to 4.6pc, the lowest level since the mid-Seventies.

“Such heavy reliance on European talent could prove a serious liability if Brexit interrupts the flow of workers. With Europeans’ appetite for working in the UK already on the wane, if a non-EU Britain puts up legal barriers to EU workers coming here, or if the UK economy slumps in the wake of Brexit, European jobseekers won’t hesitate to look elsewhere,” said Mr Mamertino.