Brex-odus: UK workers frantically look abroad for jobs post-Brexit

Analysis from office-search site OfficeGenie.co.uk discovered that, in the weeks following the historic June 23 vote, Google searches for ‘work in the EU’ were up 243 per cent year-on-year.

In light of this, Office Genie has created a guide for workers looking to head abroad.

While there was increased interest in working in many EU countries, the ones leading the way were all non-EU member states: Searches for ‘work in Iceland’ (up 132 per cent), ‘work in Norway’ (122 per cent) and ‘work in Switzerland’ (108 per cent) saw the biggest increases.

Escapee hotspots Canada and New Zealand were also popular with increases of 62 per cent and 46 per cent respectively. Singapore also saw searches up 39 per cent.

However interest in working EU countries is also up post-Brexit: France led the way with searches going up 62 per cent, followed by Italy (30 per cent) and Spain (30 per cent). European-economic-powerhouse Germany rounded off the top 10 destinations for escapee workers; searches for the phrase ‘work in Germany’ were up 17 per cent.

Peter Ames, Head of Strategy at OfficeGenie.co.uk, said “There was much fear of a ‘brain drain’ with serious increases in the number of people researching how they can continue to work in the EU, or elsewhere abroad.

“Most interestingly, all the most popular countries are non-EU members. So it’s not all good news for fans of the Union; people might be concerned about life working in other EU countries now that Britain is leaving.

“And of course the greatest irony in all this is that a leave vote, fueled by campaigning around immigration, is causing many workers in this country to look abroad themselves.”