WorkMotion, the Global Talent Operating System company, has released its The Local Talent Index study that analyses the ability of 100 cities worldwide to compete in the global remote employment market, based on the concentration of local talent, local salary levels, and remote working infrastructure. The study found notably in the UK that London ranks #1 for senior talent in cyber security and digital marketing, highest for junior-level data scientists, and has the highest number of co-working spaces compared to any other global city.
Analysing 100 cities from across the world according to global significance and the reliability of available data, alongside six different occupations based on their ubiquity and likelihood of becoming remote-first in the future, WorkMotion conducted the study in order to understand which cities have the most competitive talent in today’s remote marketplace. From London to New York to Bangalore, the study looked at occupations including programmers, data scientists, video game developers, digital marketing managers, cyber security professionals and HR managers.
Notable findings include:
- London ranks #1 for senior talent in digital marketing and #4 for junior digital marketing professionals.
- London ranks #4 out of the 100 cities in the study for both junior- and senior-level developers. Meanwhile, Seoul ranks #1 for junior talent and Bangalore ranks #1 for senior talent.
- For HR professionals, London ranks #3 for junior talent and #6 for senior talent.
- Dublin ranks highest for ease of compliance legislation, a measurement of how well local governments facilitate remote work, followed by Helsinki and Toronto in second and third.
- London has the highest concentration of junior and senior talent in data science, and scores highest for junior talent, while Bangalore ranks highest for senior talent. Conversely, in cyber security, London ranks #1 for senior talent while Bangalore ranks #1 for junior talent.
- London has the most coworking spaces, with 334, followed by New York and Bangalore.
- Out of all professions analysed across each city, London places #2 highest overall for junior and senior talent.
“With a 140% rise in the number of people working from home since 2005, the employment landscape has changed and remote working is part of the new normal, with workers now having the ability to seek highly-paid remote jobs with foreign employers,” said Carsten Lebtig, Co-Founder and Managing Director of WorkMotion. “As a result, there is less pressure on city governments to attract new companies to their city, as their citizens can seek remote employment at companies based anywhere in the world.”
The study is designed to draw attention to the importance of city-level and national governments having a strategy to respond to the current changes in hiring practices, ease remote work compliance regulations, increase English literacy and educate their citizens for the jobs of tomorrow.
“The priority for cities must now be to educate and prepare their citizens so that they can take full advantage of the new remote opportunities offered, while bringing money into their local economies,” added Lebtig.
Remote work allows cities to boost their economies as residents obtain high paying remote positions with foreign companies. In this context, The Local Talent Index uses data to examine the competitiveness of cities’ workforces in different industries, as well as analyse remote working infrastructure and compliance legislation in each location. The results reveal the cities best placed to compete in the globalised remote job market of the future.
