Polls show expat swing towards lifestyle rather than career

Tradtionally, embracing the expat life was more likely to involve a better job with a higher salary than a lifestyle choice, but two recent surveys indicate a major change in the motivation to move overseas.

The first online poll was undertaken on behalf of an international insurance company and surveyed 1,000 expats in various overseas location as well as its customers living abroad. Although the majority of respondents had left Britain to take up new career opportunities, the spur for their decisions to leave was dissatisfaction with their UK lifestyles.

Poor work/life balance was cited by 17 per cent, with 13 per cent mentioning poor pay and benefits. The British weather was rated as a reason to leave by 10 per cent and the country’s unstable economic outlook encouraged nine per cent to make the move.

Of the already established expats on contract overseas, 17 per cent of those surveyed quit the UK because they wanted to enjoy a better quality of life in another country. Over 34 per cent left to take up a specific career opportunity.

In comparison, the results of the second poll by an online expat networking forum showed that the major reason for emigrating cited by 31 per cent of respondents was that the lifestyle in their chosen host country was superior to that in the UK. Only 19 per cent put the move down to a new job, and 23 per cent said they wanted to start up a new business abroad.

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