Post-Brexit, India records highest growth for UK job clicks: Indeed

India posted the highest growth of 25 percentage points in terms of shares of clicks for jobs in the UK

With Brexit creating a level playing field for European Union (EU) and non-EU nations in terms of immigration, leading global online job site Indeed has seen India post the highest jump in terms of searches and clicks for jobs in the United Kingdom (UK).

Data from Indeed shows India posting the highest growth of 25 percentage points in terms of shares of clicks for jobs in the UK at 0.43 per cent in May 2021, compared to an average of 0.18 per cent in 2019. This is because, post-Brexit, the UK government changed its immigration regime to prioritise ‘those with the highest skills’, resulting in lower interest in UK jobs by EU jobseekers but more from non-EU nations, led by India.

According to Pawel Adrjan, Head of EMEA Research, Indeed Hiring Lab, the new immigration regime has resulted in an overall 36 per cent decline in job searches by EU jobseekers with clicks for low-paying jobs such as childcare, hospitality, and leisure recording an even bigger decline of 41 per cent since 2019.

"UK’s post-Brexit immigration rules have created barriers for EU citizens but they made it easier for non-EU citizens to qualify for a work visa than before by reducing the minimum salary threshold for many jobs and making it easier for students to work in the UK after graduation. As a result, the UK has become a less feasible destination for many EU citizens but a more feasible destination for many candidates from outside the EU," said Adrjan.

What is more, Indeed's data on India registering biggest growth in clicks among the non-EU countries comes against the background of a greater share of Indian jobseekers’ searches being targeted at overseas jobs. This suggests that Indians are aggressively looking for job opportunities abroad even as the pandemic-induced restrictions continue, added Adrjan.

For instance, according to Sashi Kumar, Head of Sales, Indeed India, in May 2021, 15 per cent of clicks by jobseekers based in India were on overseas jobs, compared with nine per cent in 2019.

"There are only a few countries – India, the US, the UK and Canada – that really have a similar profile. The other thing is the way in which the world's skilled jobs migrate to India. So, you have large portions of the Indian labour force that are doing work that is in support of other economies, which makes the country very connected to the rest of the world. This creates a set of dynamics that are very different from what we see anywhere else. The Indian labour force is very young, and is growing and changing at an incredible rate," Kumar said.

Further, with EU jobseekers on par with their global counterparts, Indeed is seeing that employers hiring for higher-paid jobs may be able to replace EU candidates with applicants from the rest of the world. Additionally, Indeed data indicates that the non-EU click share in lower-paying jobs has increased marginally at 12 per cent but EU interest in these jobs has declined by a lot more -41 per cent, Adrjan stated.

"Some additional factors which may have led to higher interest in UK jobs from India include India retaining its position as the second-largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI); Indian companies making massive job creation commitments along with huge investments in the UK; and signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Migration and Mobility Partnership that facilitates greater talent flow between India and the UK may have encouraged Indian jobseekers," Adrjan elaborated.

In terms of skills and job profiles too, the recent developments in the UK are well suited for jobseekers from India, as the data suggests. According to Indeed, higher paid jobs that require advanced qualification, largely attract job seekers outside the UK with software development with 18.7 per cent of clicks saw maximum interest from international job seekers. Other roles such as engineering, architecture, scientific research, banking & finance, and media & communications also attracted high foreign interest.

"People from India and Pakistan clicked most on software development jobs. While nursing roles were popular among Nigerian job seekers, administrative assistance (administrative and secretarial roles) is the most popular category among workers from Hong Kong and Ireland. All these categories have seen gains in non-EU click shares since 2019 as interest from the EU has decreased," Adrjan added.

On the other hand, the Indian job market too has exhibited similar trends. According to Indeed, with the pandemic necessitating ‘remote working’ and more technology-based business operations, organizations have had to ramp up their tech hiring to support this transition. This is reflected in the hiring for tech roles peaked 17 per cent between April 2020 and January 2021.

Indeed’s data indicated that job search for “remote” or “WFH” jobs in India increased by a whopping 799 per cent between the beginning of Feb 20 and June 21. Indeed’s India Hiring Tracker for Q4 FY 21 further revealed that, at 25 per cent, Technical Support Specialist emerged as one of the most searched remote jobs followed by Data Entry Clerk (22 per cent), IT Recruiter (16 per cent), Content Writer (16 per cent), and Back End Developer (15 per cent).

"The overall hiring has improved significantly with job postings on Indeed witnessing a spike in the last one year. In June ‘21 new job postings stood at -14 per cent compared to the same period last year where it was -51 per cent . Moreover, 68 per cent of all employers filled more than 60 per cent of their hiring needs during the Jan-March quarter.  Bangalore led hiring activity among cities while Chennai lagged all other cities, during the same period. Hiring was largely led by Healthcare, E-commerce, and Financial Services, Construction & Real Estate and Information Technology sectors," Kumar added.