Despite widespread concerns that European workers are less interested in UK jobs right now, new data from the UK’s leading independent job board, CV-Library, has found that the number of professionals that are looking for work in the UK has actually risen since the EU Referendum vote in 2016, particularly from some of Europe’s strongest economies.

In fact, the data explored the amount of EU traffic to the company’s site in January 2019, 2018, 2017 and 2016. It found that while the number of searches for UK jobs was fairly static in 2017 and 2018, as Brexit has become more prominent job hunter traffic from the EU rose in the following locations last month, when comparing data* with pre-EU Referendum figures:

• Germany has the strongest economy in the EU and job seeker traffic to the UK has more than quadrupled since 2016, rising by 389% in January 2019

• After the UK, France has the third strongest economy, with interest in UK jobs from workers in this country rising by 26.9%

• Italy has the fourth strongest economy and saw a larger increase in job seeker traffic to the UK, rising by 36.5% last month

• Spain has the fifth biggest economy in the EU and we saw a 30% increase in the amount of Spanish professionals looking for work in the UK last month

Statistics compare EU traffic to the CV-Library site in January 2019 and January 2016. For a full list of EU job hunter traffic by country, please refer to the ‘Notes to Editors’

Alongside this, the job board found that there had been a drop in job hunter traffic from Portugal (down 23.4%), Greece (down 19%), the Netherlands (down 17.9%), Slovakia (down 17.7%), Romania (down 13.8%), Belgium (down 12.6%) and Latvia (down 2.1%).

John Salt, Managing Director of CV-Library comments:

“We know that the number of EU migrants arriving in the UK hit a six-year low last year. But, it’s clear that despite a drop in traffic from certain locations, the UK is still an attractive location to live and work in: whether this is EU nationals seeking employment opportunities, or expats looking to move back to the UK.

“Alongside this, job-seeking activity is usually a pre-curser to what is happening in the wider economy and our findings suggest that workers from Europe’s strongest performing countries intend to continue with their job search here in the UK.

“After we leave the EU, we will still be an open country, but hopefully with an immigration system in place that welcomes hard-working professionals into the UK. With this in mind, and as the government gives more clarity on the outcome of Brexit, organisations should pay attention to the fact that many EU professionals are still keen to explore what the UK has to offer, so long as the opportunities are there for them.”