Brain drain latest: Number of Brits choosing to move abroad doubles

Brain drain latest: Number of Brits choosing to move abroad doubles



by tylerthe-theatre

38 comments

  1. Its tempting. A colleague of mine has just moved to Spain (he’s full remote) and my employer has offices in Berlin and Melbourne (as well as the USA but let’s ignore that for now). My wife works in the NHS so can get a visa easily and my work would sponsor me… if it wasn’t for the kids we would have done it already.

    I’m relatively ok in the housing market; I got on the ladder years ago and it’s not too bad. But for me it’s more the crumbling, hopeless nature of the country at the moment that would drive me to move. My kids are interested in the arts and starting a career in that industry in the UK without significant family wealth is almost impossible at the moment.

  2. It really is tempting to move before Reform may take over.

  3. It’s actually quite difficult to successfully live and work overseas. Work visa restrictions and entry criteria are just the tip of the iceberg of barriers. Most people dream of working overseas, but when they see the difficulties involved and how most people are simply not accepted by other countries for work permits, they go back to their mundane UK existence.

    And remember: no matter where you go, there you are.

    As someone who’s lived and worked in a few different countries, you don’t ‘escape the problems’ of where you are now, you just trade new problems in the place you move to for the problems you are facing now.

  4. Look on the bright side – the government is getting net migration down!

  5. I do feel there is a lot of hyperbole when discussing current events. Maybe I’m cynical of the cynicism but I feel like things aren’t that bad. Am I alone?

  6. People always think the grass is greener, and maybe it is. But people only see what a country is like from the few week they spend their on holiday, which isnt day to day living.

    If you speak to locals they often have the same issues and concerns as the UK does

    Friend lives in Germany and he says local trains are worse than in the UK. They dont even inform you when they’re cancelled, they just dont turn up. But everyone outside of Germany think the train system is great

  7. I’ve already decided that if we get to 2028/9 and it still looks like Reform is gonna win the next election, I’m leaving. No point staying on a sinking ship.

  8. I’m out of here ASAP. About half of the people I know have left or planning to move soon. It is getting much harder to have a decent quality of life in the UK.

  9. If Reform win the next election I’m pissing off abroad. I’m not prepared to wade through that much s**t.

  10. I would if I could. I’m seeing a Reform government soon and I really don’t want to be here for that.

    Unfortunately, without freedom of movement in the EU any more it’s not exactly easy or cheap any more to just up and leave.

  11. A friend recently moved to the UAE. I don’t blame him tbh.

    – Way less tax

    – Extremely safe. Like, you can leave your phone on your table at dinner, leave, and it will still be there an hour later

    – Childcare much more affordable

    – High quality of education

    And ofc the weather is way better.

  12. I think the problem unfortunately is that most of the ‘Western / developed’ world are going through similar problems. Some things might be better in say Germany, but some things might be worse. But both countries are going through major difficulties.

  13. What makes you think the people in other countries are happy to see you moving in & taking their high paying jobs though?

  14. I’d leave if I could. The world is pretty shit at the moment, but this country is particularly dreadful.

    I just can’t see any improvements in the short or long term.

  15. Not to worry, we’ve imported thousands over! 

    All those roles will be filled and companies will experience no adverse affects to their profit margins.

  17. Lucky you if you can afford to, most of us are stuck

  18. How the tables have turned. The way things are going, Brits are soon gonna be emigrating to Poland.

  19. I don’t blame them to be honest. This country is going downhill

  20. I think this is a good thing. A lot of the people who move will get experiences that they would not have had by staying in the UK. Maybe the economy will suffer, but there would be opportunities for younger people as well.
    Some will come back, and they will bring new ideas and perspectives which may be useful in the future.

  21. > 5,150 per month this year

    This magic number needs to be increased to 75000 and far right can open the prosecco because the net migration is zero!!!

  22. I’m a Dr and I’m moving to Australia in 2027 (if the government dont ban it). Sick of the UK, working conditions and everyone has the same crab bucket mentality where nobody deserves to earn good wages as there is always someone worse off than you.

  24. Moving abroad is a very expensive process that can take many months. Many people might want to move but most won’t because of the hassle.

    The primary reason behind stories like this is to scare the government into not taxing the wealthy.

    So the government should double down and tax them more.

    The voting public do not believe that they “can’t” tax the rich. Why the fuck not?

    Prove it, maybe the public will back down if they see you at least tried and failed.

    But it worked in other times (basically pre-Reagan) so why can’t it work now?

  25. Got a certain financial cushion figure in my head that I’m closing in on and then I’m out of here. Nothing crazy either, I’m far from rich

    Lots of places with better quality of life, better weather and a less undesirable demographic change that are actively welcoming to new people moving there and paying into the system

    This country hates anyone earning above like £70k. £100k and you’re a pariah who should be happy to give all your money in taxes. Many countries close to home that don’t share that opinion

  26. I will say I’ve seen a sizeable portion of my friends move abroad for better opportunities.

    In my friend group of around 9 people, 4 are moving. 2 left last month, ones moving next year and another is going Australia in nov (but they’re a nurse). Me deciding to move will be the 5th.

    I myself am moving in 3 months. Tired of the creeping cost of living, I work a minimum wage job in London, however had a better job but have no been able to find anything else here so decided to move abroad (its easier to work a lower wage and have a better quality of life elsewhere then in the UK in the modern age sadly.)

    I notice on reddit you get the same people (who havent never actual lived abroad or would ever) repeat the same tired lines like “grass isnt always greener” or “its impossible to move abroad now” blah blah but I realised that’s often just reddit a lot of people who don’t know anything and are too terminally online so just repeat the same thing they’ve read on another thread without any actual insight into the conversation.

    There are plenty of ways to move abroad sure its harder but the people that do it are smart, resourceful and determined. Often those types of people dont spend their lives on reddit, so you wont ever interact with them in threads like this.

  27. I’m sick of being here, Tories have destroyed this country and Labour are fucking up a lot more than I thought they would. I’m disillusioned with the whole system here. The dream would be to eventually retire to Spain but I may try and move to Dubai for a few years.

    I hate everything about Dubai but if I could work there for a few years, I could pay off my mortgage and potentially open doors for other places around the world.

  28. Not just the british though. All of my highly educated european friends have left or are planning to leave the UK.

    The reality is that salaries are not keeping up with inflation and house prices.

    Taxes are massive.

    Childcare and education are too expensive.

    The UK government is dumb and authoritarian.

    Life in the UK feels like you are a peasant whose only purpose is to work the fields.

    With the added irony of European immigrants running away from a country flooded by non-European immigrants and the crime and culture shift they bring.

    Yeah so brain drain is a severe understatement.

    Meanwhile the british are coping hard and still thinking that 60k is a good salary.

  29. My line manager is German and the rest of my team are all based in Germany. I have lived over there before for 6 months and he has said that if I wanted to move there on a longer term basis, the option is there. Honestly, it’s very tempting.

  30. Moving where though? It seems many countries in the Western world have very similar problems. Bad politicians everywhere.

  31. I would love to be able to do this having been unemployed since last summer. Alas, I am 44 and too old to be considered by employers abroad.

  32. I would like to emigrate the the United States, however current world events makes that possibility extraordinary slim.

  33. I left for the Middle East post camerons landslide and the pre-brexit dog shit and havent looked back. I go into semi retirement next year at 40. Only returning the UK to renew my passports, and that will be me done.

  34. I hope for their own sake they’re not going to the US. They might get an all expenses paid holiday courtesy of the US taxpayer

  35. It is always the same: The ones that leave are the ones that can leave.

    In general it is a bad sign when they do.

  36. Moved to Poland last year and bought a property,

    Still working remote to the UK but I’ll probably start working for a PL money for the benefits/tax/etc.

    I remember all the horror stories about how you can’t leave the UK, UK is the best for blah blah, my life has been considerably better since the day I landed in EU and applied to become a citizen, getting an EU passport opened up all the benefits we lost at Brexit.

    People who decided to stay in the UK and hope things fix up, good luck, I’d rather not waste my life banking on a problem which doesn’t have to be mine

  37. Freelancer here. I can work from anywhere in the world. I’m sick of being taxed to death at a c. 67% marginal rate and having nothing to show for it, and having to cope with life in a dysfunctional country that’s in a death spiral. My partner and I are looking at Canada at the moment. I don’t see myself being here in the long-term.

  38. Excellent, net migration will fall! (is that what the newspapers are saying?)

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