Brexit is the great divider in the UK. But not down the normal north-south, Labour v Conservatives, rich v poor. Brexit divides families, offices and pretty much anything you can find with more than 1x human being within it!
And whether you voted remain in 2016 and have followed every millisecond of coverage since or voted leave and just want to see the end of Britain in the European Union, there is 1x thing we can all agree on: that it will affect a huge number of things in your life! This isn’t another editorial designed to make you support a ‘People’s Vote’ or demand a ‘No-Deal’. This is simply looking at how Brexit might impact your future career options.
Firstly, let’s start with a disclaimer. We still don’t know what Brexit is and what it will actually look like. The clue is in the title – we are looking at the might.
So Brexit may make it harder for UK nationals to travel across Europe. As it currently stands, we all enjoy visa-free travel which makes for simple impulse trips and ease of business for companies based in multiple European countries. It might make it harder for you to take up a job at Casumo in one of the two thriving and bustling destinations of Malta or Barcelona.
There are many concerns – particularly in the creative sector – on the impact Brexit could have. For your career this could manifest itself as a lack of jobs as the economy is likely to contract; it could also lead to a reduction in funding of creative projects, many of which rely on European Union funding. The value of the Pound could also fall due to increasing costs, reduced opportunities and the quality of productions.
The technology sector is also worried. Its main concern is that the lack of qualified professionals within cybersecurity and data from outside of the UK won’t be allowed in or may be made to feel unwelcome, leading to a skills shortage and lack of/reduction in growth within UK companies.
However, there are also a host of opportunities across the board which could come about as a result of Brexit. For your career this could be just what you need and in a few years’ time you might even pinpoint this as being the start of your next stage of development! Particularly in football we often talk about home grown talent being given a chance or young British players not getting the opportunity due to foreign imports taking their place.
Apply this principle to your career – anyone on the career ladder ahead of you who isn’t from the UK may have to leave the country or potentially move over and let home grown talent have first refusal on any promotions. Less competition for jobs should theoretically make it easier to find jobs irrespective of whether you want to play for Manchester United, Manchester City or drive an Uber car as part of the gig economy.
Engineering is another industry which sees Brexit as potentially good for careers. The sector recognises that there is a skills gap in the UK but believes that Brexit will ensure that the only talent that comes in from other countries will be the super talented who will assist in the development of local engineers.
We should also not forget that immediately after the referendum in 2016, the McDonald’s UK chief executive Paul Pomroy announced an acceleration of investment due solely to the result.
The truth of the matter is that we still don’t know how Brexit will affect you, me or indeed our nearest and dearest in their careers. It might even take a while for us all to find out – let me know if you know for sure first!
