According to Deel’s State of Global Hiring Report, the number of American workers hired by overseas companies increased by 62% in the previous year.
That’s based on 300,000 contracts between Deel consumers and staff. The vast majority of Deel’s contracts, 85%, are for remote work, however a small number of people are interested in really moving abroad.
Over the past several years, an increasing number of Americans have relocated to Portugal for business and lifestyle reasons, including favorable weather, reasonable living costs, and the recent introduction of a digital nomad visa.
And desire isn’t waning: Portugal was the top country for American visa applicants in 2023, according to Deel data.
Deel users are mainly looking to relocate to Southern Europe, with Americans particularly interested in migrating to Dubai.
According to Internations, expats in Spain and the UAE report high levels of satisfaction with their personal, financial, social, and professional life overseas. In 2023, the top three Spanish cities for expats to prosper are Malaga, Alicante, and Valencia.
According to Alex Bouaziz, CEO of Deel, the normalization of remote labor has raised an existential question: “Now that people are able to get some of the best jobs remotely and can live anywhere, where are the most appealing places for remote workers?”
He believes that would-be expats now have more options for countries with superior quality of life or attractive tax advantages.
“It’s amazing how individuals shift themselves,” Bouaziz continues, “or think ‘what becomes my center of gravity when I’m not working, which I can do anywhere? “Where can I live the best life?”
Many employees are very interested in location flexibility, whether they wish to relocate or simply untether their work from their home. According to Toni Frana, FlexJobs’ senior career specialist, the most significant development in the remote work scene in the past year has been an increase in employers actively recruiting for work-from-anywhere roles.
According to Frana, the remote-work job portal has witnessed “a huge increase in job-seekers looking at work-from-anywhere jobs” since the outbreak, “and that’s hardly died down.”
Here are the top seven nations where Americans are trying to migrate overseas, based on the volume of visa requests being filed through Deel’s immigration and visa support feature:
- Portugal
- Spain
- United Kingdom
- United Arab Emirates
- Canada
- Germany
- France