Companies around the world are eager to hire U.S. tech talent, and Americans are making moves.
Of all the countries in the world, the U.S. has the second-highest number of tech workers working abroad in foreign countries, according to a new tech migration report from Deel, a global HR and payroll company.
It falls between No. 1 India, which has the highest number of expat tech workers, and No. 3 Britain.
As far as where Americans are going, the top countries hiring and relocating U.S. tech workers are:
- Great Britain
- Germany
- Canada
- Netherlands
- Spain
By job, U.S. tech workers moving abroad are most likely to work in software development, product and operations.
International bosses are eager to hire U.S. tech talent from acclaimed universities, startups, venture capital firms and those who’ve built industry-shaping companies like Google and others, says Masha Sutherlin, head of immigration at Deel. There’s a “spirit of innovation” among American tech workers that global leaders want to bring to their businesses, she adds.
Many U.S. tech workers take up operations roles abroad, meaning they’re likely being hired as specialists to help with international expansion efforts, or as a way to import best practices from U.S.-based companies.
Why American tech workers move
Tech layoffs have been less drastic in global markets compared to in the U.S., Sutherlin notes, which could motivate more laid-off or job-insecure tech workers to take a job outside the country. Generally, migration ticks up after big political moments — for example, like recent U.S. elections and contentious Supreme Court decisions.
“Pair that with the growing digital nomad lifestyle and the abundance of digital nomad visas, and that opens up an entire new scheme of working,” Sutherlin says.
Highly paid American tech workers may not be able to command elite salaries abroad. The median total compensation for a software engineer in London is roughly $119,000 versus $250,000 in San Francisco, according to Levels.fyi.
But Sutherlin says U.S. workers are often attracted by improved lifestyle factors — think, walkable cities with a lower cost of living (and maybe an advantageous tax scheme) so your paycheck goes further anyway.
Moving to the US is in-demand, too
On the hiring side, Spain, Great Britain and Canada were the top countries hiring expat workers from all over the world in 2023, according to Deel.
That being said, the U.S. was the most sought-after destination for expat tech workers, based on incoming visa requests to Deel in the last year.
Highly skilled talent such as entrepreneurs, C-suite and technical executives were especially eager to work abroad in the U.S.
Workers say their biggest reason for applying for a visa is to secure a new job, followed by seeking a pathway to citizenship, to receive preferential tax rates for skilled expats, to increase their quality of life and, finally, to reunite with a partner.
The demand for U.S. workers in global companies isn’t limited to tech jobs. The number of American workers hired by international companies grew 62% last year, according to Deel’s recent global hiring report.
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