Why it’s a bad time for Aussies to live and work in the UK

IF YOU’RE ready to pack your bags right now, it might be a good idea to think very seriously about your timing.

That potential move to London needs some serious number crunching now. (AP Photo/Adela Suliman)

MOVING to the UK to live and work has been a coming-of-age rite of passage for Australians for years.

But if you’re ready to pack your bags right now, it might be a good idea to think very seriously about your timing.

Experts say it’s looking like a terrible time to try your luck on the other side of the world, with Britain still floundering in the wake of the Brexit vote.

Job vacancies are down 7.6 per cent compared with six months ago, according to the Adzuna Job Index, and salaries are 2.8 per cent lower than this time last year. In Australia, vacancies are up 0.82 per cent.

For the first time in months, all 12 regions of the UK showed signs of advertised salary decline. The average advertised wage is now just $57,755 in the UK, compared with $86,459 in Australia.

Property prices are also down, but consumables are no cheaper, meaning your cost of living will feel a great deal higher than in Australia.

A man sunbathes in Hyde Park in London on Tuesday July 19, 2016. It was the the hottest day of 2016 in Britain, according to the Met Office. (AP Photo/Adela Suliman)

The type of jobs Australians typically do in the UK have been particularly affected.

“Aussies abroad range from backpackers to high level financial professionals,” Adzuna CEO Raife Watson told news.com.au. “There are a lot of financial professionals there because it’s a financial hub, and that’s especially in doubt at the moment.

“We’ve also seen a drop in hospitality and sales ads.”

Legal jobs saw the greatest decline, down 12.9 per cent on last year and displacing energy, oil and gas jobs as the toughest industry for job hunters in the UK.

Graduate roles and teaching jobs also suffered, with dramatic falls in advertised salaries.

If you are going for a high-level banking role or similar, you’ll also need to be wary of whether your ability to work and travel freely in Europe will be affected.

Even if you aren’t in a finance role, the hit to the industry will have a marked affect on that favourite Aussie location, London.

Australians need to consider if the traditional motivations to up sticks to Britain are still relevant following the UK’s shock vote to leave the European Union.

The UK’s worst affected industries. Picture: Adzuna

The industries coping the best. Picture: Adzuna

“There is no doubt our countries share a unique bond, both culturally and economically, and when confidence is low in the UK it has a flow-on affect to Australia,” said Mr Watson. “We have seen flat wage growth and minimal changes to job vacancies in Australia over the last six months.”

The Australian dollar took a dive and $50 billion in shares were wiped from our share market following Britain’s exit from the EU, but the UK is finding it much harder to bounce back.

The currency has taken a 20-30 per cent hit, dropping from $2.20 to the pound at the end of August last year to $1.70 to the pound.

With Theresa May newly installed as British Prime Minister, and the UK yet to trigger Article 50 and begin the Brexit process, the future still looks cloudy.

“Uncertainty creates stagnation,” said Mr Watson. “Everything’s stopped.”

It will take at least two years for the country to get out of the EU, but the forecast could be clearer much earlier, perhaps within a month if negotiations move fast.

In 2014, around 17,000 work visas were given to Australians. But recent turmoil is leaving many Australians in less of a hurry to leave, and those living in the UK rather more ready to return.

It hasn’t yet been Armageddon, Mr Watson stresses. While job ads plunged 23 per cent in the three weeks around the Brexit vote, they have picked up again in many regions, bar London, and in many sectors, with the notable exception of finance.

Will it go back to normal? Mr Watson says we just can’t be sure.

It’s all about confidence, but that “she’ll be right” Aussie attitude is currently looking in short supply.