The top 5 countries where companies are scooping up American tech workers

The top 5 countries where companies are scooping up American tech workers

May 3, 2024

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:

  1. Great Britain
  2. Germany
  3. Canada
  4. Netherlands
  5. 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