U.S. loses its ranking as best country for relocation

 U.S. loses its ranking as best country for relocation  The United States dropped from first to second place among the best countries to rel...

 U.S. loses its ranking as best country for relocation 

The United States dropped from first to second place among the best countries to relocate to, in a survey of 209,000 workers in 190 countries by Boston Consulting Group and Appcast, a job advertising firm. Canada ranked No. 1 in the survey. Boston Consulting has done the survey twice before, in 2014 and in 2018. The United States ranked first both times, while Canada ranked third.

The report attributes the U.S. drop to “an inconsistent pandemic response, the adoption of more nationalistic policies, and social unrest.” It doesn’t cite Trump by name, but Trump’s “America first” approach included a reduction in legal immigration, a cutback in temporary skilled workers allowed into the country, and anti-immigrant rhetoric dating to the beginning of his presidential campaign in 2015. It’s hardly a surprise that would have made the United States seem less welcoming.

The surveys took place from October to December of last year, a period of time when Trump himself contracted Covid-19 and the Trump White House was the source of at least one superspreader event. At 1,600 deaths per 1 million people, the U.S. has the 10th worst coronavirus death rate out of more than 200 countries. Canada’s death rate is 581 per million, 64% lower than in the U.S.

The United States wasn’t the only country to lose luster in the survey. Germany fell from second in 2018 to fourth in 2020, probably because of a spurt of anti-immigration sentiment. The UK ranked second in 2014, but fell to fifth in 2019 and 2020. The UK’s chaotic exit from the European Union – Brexit – occurred in 2016 and wasn’t finalized until the end of 2020. The UK also struggled with a high coronavirus death rate.

Countries moving up in the BCG welcome index include No. 3 Australia, No. 6 Japan and No. 10 New Zealand. Each has a coronavirus death rate far lower than the global average.