South East: One-third of EU citizens 'thinking of leaving UK', warns KPMG survey

A major international survey commissioned by KPMG UK reveals that although 45% of EU citizens working in the South East plan to stay, 34.7% are considering leaving and 7.6% have already made up their minds to go. When extrapolated across the South East’s entire EU workforce*, that’s a group equivalent to more than one hundred thousand potential leavers.

The survey also reveals that businesses have a key role in determining the scale of any potential Brexit skills-drain with EU nationals calling for a clear commitment from their employers that they want them to stay.

According to the research, the EU workers most likely to leave the UK are what KPMG UK is calling ‘INDEYs’, the independent, in-demand, educated and young.

Explaining the findings, Andrew Morgan, senior partner for KPMG in the Thames Valley, said: “Brexit has not only impacted the likely actions of valued EU nationals working in our region, but has also seemingly affected their feeling of belonging, which could have even more damaging longer-term consequences if this is passed down to future generations.

“This highlights just how important the actions of employers are going to be if the South East is to avoid a Brexit skills-drain. The issue spans both high and low-skilled jobs, and our public sector could be particularly hard-hit, followed closely by the hotel and restaurant industries.

“Although almost half of the EU citizens working in the region plan to stay, what other EU citizens choose to do is definitely hanging in the balance and too few employers are doing enough to support their EU employees.”

The international survey, which sampled 2,000 EU citizens working in the UK and 1,000 EU citizens from the 10 countries most likely to supply EU labour, also found:

• 84% of EU citizens in the South East think it is important to have a clear commitment from their employer that they want them to stay.
• 75% of EU nationals working in the South East think it is important for their employers to publicly assert the importance of EU staff.
• 56% of those surveyed in the South East said they felt less welcomed and valued here since the Brexit vote.
• 49% of EU citizens in their home countries feel the country has fallen in desirability as a place to live and work.