Expat Insider’s Working Abroad Index looks at which country is considered best for mobile for the fourth year.
This year’s survey included 12,500 mobiles from 188 countries who provided very interesting information about the countries in which they live in a variety of criteria. While in 2016 the survey focused on professional life, this year life outside of working hours received a prominent spotlight and examined important aspects such as quality of life, adaptation, family life, personal economy and work. Here’s a review of some of the countries that surprised this year.
Czech Republic: Thanks to the opportunities
The Czech Republic, officially known as the Czech Republic, has been climbing up the index for two years and this year it came in first place. And rightly so. Two-thirds of the respondents expressed high satisfaction with living in the country, 11% more than the world ranking (which currently stands at 64%). Two out of three mobiles living in the Czech Republic testified that they had opened up positive employment opportunities in the country.
76% of those who are mobile in it are satisfied with their working hours (full-time for mobility in the Czech Republic is 44.9 hours a week, as in Israel): 7% are self-employed workers (doctors, lawyers, etc.); 8% freelancers and 8% describe themselves as entrepreneurs. The rest are employees, with 19% of them working in the field of education.
New Zealand: Encouraging you to come
New Zealand came in second and most respected, probably thanks to two-thirds of mobiles who testified they were satisfied with their work in the country. It also made the top 10 in each category in the survey.
14% of new Zealanders work in the public sector and 15% in the health system (the global average is 4% and 6% respectively). These high figures are likely due to the list of required professions, which encourages travelers from certain professions to emigrate to New Zealand. For example, by 2030, the government needs to recruit 25,000 workers in nursing professions.
Mobile people in the country are mostly satisfied with the convenient combination of work and leisure. More specifically, 29% indicated they were very satisfied, 10% more than the global average. This can be credited to relatively few working hours (42.3 hours per week), with 27% of those who are employed in general working part-time (the global average is 17%).
Bahrain: The Choice of Women
Among mobility women, Bahrain came first. And among all those who move around, she came second in the work and career categories and work-leisure balance. 73% of those who travel to Bahrain are satisfied with their work and three out of five see a professional horizon there.
It turns out that in the island state of the Middle East you can combine work and leisure. Still, it came in third place in this category, even though 93% of its passengers work full-time (42.9 hours). One of the Philippines even expanded on the survey, writing of Bahrain: “After a day’s work, I can still find time for peace.”
Still, what seems to be holding Bahrain behind is the category of economic uncertainty. Low oil prices have led to cuts in government spending and an increase in the national debt.
Watch the full list:
For the full results of Working Abroad Index
Falls of the year
The 2016 big winner, Luxembourg, dropped to only fourth place this year, due to categories such as workplace satisfaction (dropped from 6th place to 16th place) and Professional Horizon (from 9th place to 15th place). Another change that occurred this year was observed in working hours, with an increase of 114 minutes in weekly working hours within a year. Although working hours in Luxembourg are still in a safe place below the global average (43.7 hours per week compared to the global average of 44.3 hours per week).
Taiwan, which last year came in second place, dropped in the rankings in all categories this year. The most noticeable decline was recorded in the category of work and leisure balance (dropped from 5th place to 35th place), despite a surprising decline of 90 minutes in weekly working hours.
Ecuador, a two-time poll winner in the past, also dropped in this year’s rankings to 51st place. Although it declined in all categories, the most evident decline was recorded in employment opportunities; Forty percent of those surveyed said they were dissatisfied with this aspect.
And the prize for the biggest loser of the year is the picker of panama, where the movers ranked it very low in the categories of job satisfaction, working hours and balancing between fanny and work. She came in at 30th place, down six places.
Surprise of the Year
We’re not just going to tell you about the declines in the rankings, we’re also freaking out when we need to. And Kazakhstan definitely deserves paragon. This year it has risen from 57th to 25th place thanks to categories such as job security (rising from 40th place to 9th). The improvement in employment may be driven by economic diversity in the country, which has led to employment opportunities in areas such as construction and education and in more traditional areas such as natural resources.
.
