TROY, MI--(Marketwire - May 14, 2008) - Relocating to a different city for the right job
opportunity would be no problem for most U.S. workers, but the 2008 Kelly
Global Workforce Index shows that Americans lag behind their global
counterparts in their willingness to move to another country.
According to the survey, more than two-thirds of American workers say they
would consider relocating to a different city to find work, but only 37
percent would be willing to move outside the country.
This compares with an average of 59 percent of global respondents who said
they would consider moving to a different country. In fact, the U.S.
percentage ranks lowest among the 33 countries included in the survey.
"In today's global business environment, workers should be willing to
become more global themselves," said George Corona, executive vice
president for the Americas Region of Kelly Services. "It is increasingly
likely that people may need to relocate to find the right work or to
advance their careers. Many skills in areas such as finance, information
technology, science and engineering are easily transferable across national
borders. For many workers, the chance to move to a different city or
country can be a valuable professional experience as well as a good
lifestyle choice."
The global survey sought the views of 115,000 people in 33 countries,
including more than 14,000 in the United States, about their capacity to
move to a new location to find the right job, their patterns of travel to
and from work, and the main factors that would prevent them from
relocating.
Key findings among U.S. workers include:
-- 69 percent would consider relocating to a different city for work.
-- 37 percent would consider relocating to a different country for work.
-- 28 percent would consider relocating to a country where they weren't
fluent in the local language.
-- 32 percent say that, before their retirement, they would like to move
away from the place where they currently live and work.
-- 77 percent say that 90 minutes (45 minutes each way) is the maximum
commuting time they are prepared to spend each day.
"The high degree of intercity mobility in the workforce is good news for
employers struggling to fill positions requiring skills that may be in
short supply in their local labor markets," said Corona.
Workers under 35 years old were the most likely to consider moving, and men
were considerably more willing to relocate than women.
When asked what the major complicating factors would be in moving to
another country, 65 percent of the U.S. respondents cited family concerns,
50 percent cited language barriers, 26 percent said children's schooling,
and 22 percent said property ownership.
U.S. workers are less willing to spend a great deal of their time
travelling to and from work, compared with their counterparts in almost
every other country surveyed. Just 6 percent of the U.S. respondents said
a commute of 60 minutes or more each way would be acceptable, compared with
the global average of 12 percent. Only Mexico, with 5 percent, had a lower
proportion of survey respondents who were willing to deal with such a
commute.
About Kelly Services, Inc.
Kelly Services, Inc. (
NASDAQ:
KELYA) (
NASDAQ:
KELYB) is a world leader in
human resources solutions headquartered in Troy, Michigan, offering
temporary staffing services, outsourcing, vendor on-site and full-time
placement. Kelly operates in 37 countries and territories. Kelly provides
employment to more than 750,000 employees annually, with skills including
office services, accounting, engineering, information technology, law,
science, marketing, creative services, light industrial, education, and
health care. Revenue in 2007 was $5.7 billion. Visit
www.kellyservices.com.
Contact Information: Media Contact:
James McIntire
(248) 244-4305