Expat study Berlin – Understanding the customer journey of international talent living in Berlin to improve the value proposition, policy making and service offering of the city
Post pandemic, Berlin like many other cities had to deal with changes in talent drivers and relocation patterns. Consequently, Berlin Partner sought out to have a data driven approach to understand their target group a lot better. Together we developed the Berlin Expat Survey, seeking to
1. Get insights to the pain points of the expat experience
2. Leverage these insights to optimise communication about Berlin
3. Propose new policies and projects to mitigate the challenges experienced by the target group
The challenge
Berlin has had a great brand and natural inflow of global talent particularly in the create and tech industry. Post-pandemic, Berlin was facing a net immigration deficit. Whereas the tasks of Berlin Partner in the past have been more on the immigration support and soft landing element, all of the sudden the market change demanded a stronger need to understand, why would people come to Berlin and what would make them stay?
The solution
We helped Berlin Partner to:
- Develop the actual questionnaire leveraging our insights on talent drivers and obstacles in their life cycle of relocation cycle
- Provide the strategy to identify and reach the target group to secure respondents to the survey and support the operational activities of doing so
- Analyse the data and provide recommendations for actions to top management
The result
Survey highlights include:
- Asked if the first interest in Berlin came from the place itself or a job offer, 67% of the total respondents in the Berlin Expat Survey pointed to the place.
- A large proportion of expats in Berlin did not arrive directly from their home country, but a third country.
- Most typical “go to” reason is a recommendation from a friend through personal relations.
- Work life balance, living in Berlin and improving my career are the top 3 reasons for accepting a job in Berlin.
- Cultural diversity, healthcare system, and EU membership are ranked highest as decision making factors for choosing a location to work abroad, but the respondents point to many different aspects as well within statistical range.
- A lot of the satisfaction of the Berlin experience is tied to good work conditions at the job related to both personal and professional career opportunities.
- Meanwhile dealing with authorities in English is the most disappointing experience.
More on the topic
Read more about our collaboration with Berlin Partner here focusing on their European Talent Bridge to Africa
“At Berlin Partner, we aspire to be at the forefront of place branding and talent attraction. To achieve this, we also need consultants who are a step ahead and have approaches to take the next step. That’s why we will continue to work with Future Place Leadership in the future. The result is always Champions League.” -Burkhard Volbracht, Berlin Partner
Find our free handbooks & white papers on Talent Attraction at our handbook library!
