Managing Mobility Matters- A European Perspective

Key Findings - Business Survey

How important are mobile employees to business?

• On average 57 per cent of businesses feel that a willingness to be mobile is very important at the senior manager level and 48 per cent at the professional level
• Very few businesses feel that mobility is very important in other occupational groups: clerical/secretarial - 4 per cent, skilled manual - 10 per cent and other manual - 4 per cent

Why do businesses employ mobile workers?

Across all countries, there are two main reasons why businesses employ mobile workers:

• 46 per cent employ mobile workers to obtain appropriate skills
• 42 per cent employ mobile workers to build up international business operations

What type of worker is it most difficult to recruit?

Across all countries surveyed, businesses found it most difficult to recruit at the senior manager and professional levels:

• 48 per cent had difficulty recruiting senior managers and professionals
• 13 per cent had difficulty recruiting clerical and secretarial workers
• 34 per cent had difficulty recruiting skilled manual workers
• 17 per cent had difficulty recruiting other manual workers

How do businesses deal with recruitment difficulties?

Businesses have overcome recent recruitment difficulties in different ways:

• 43 per cent had increased training of their employees
• 35 per cent had implemented new technology
• 30 per cent had increased pay/benefits
• 23 per cent had increased the use of contract workers
• 22 per cent had outsourced some business processes
• 21 per cent had increased the use of mobile workers

What does business see as the key barriers to mobility?

For business, the five most important barriers to mobility are:

• The lack of integrated employment legislation - seen by 40 per cent as a significant barrier
• Differences between tax systems - also seen by 40 per cent as a significant barrier
• Need to provide spousal employment - seen by 39 per cent as a significant barrier
• Lack of language skills - seen by 35 per cent as a significant barrier
• Differences between benefit systems - seen by 32 per cent as a barrier

How will business' future need for mobile workers change?

• 69 per cent of businesses believe that their need for a mobile work force will increase in the next five years
• More businesses in Spain than any other country surveyed say the need will increase (85 per cent); fewest businesses in the Czech Republic anticipate an increase (47 per cent)

Will demographic change increase the need for mobile workers?

• 68% of businesses agree that demographic change will increase the need for mobile workers

Is there a skill shortage in Greater Europe or are people in the wrong place?

• 47 per cent of businesses agree that there is no skill shortage in Greater Europe and that people are in the wrong place

Will advances in technology mean that there is less need for mobile workers?

• 18 per cent of businesses think that technology will reduce the need for mobile workers

Is the absence of integrated legislation within Europe to support pan-European employment a barrier to mobility?

• 68 per cent of businesses agree that the absence of integrated employment legislation is a barrier to mobility