When Marshall McLuhan coined the term ‘global village’ in the 1960s, he had his finger on the pulse if not the life blood of the future.

With technology helping us to unite and share knowledge worldwide, the foundation stone for tomorrow’s market has been laid and, under this infrastructure, boundaries will continue to shift and communities widen. With access to global expertise, the recruitment market becomes ever more competitive and more complex. Employers will seek out knowledge and resources in both near and far corners of the globe and workers will similarly broaden their job search.

The ability to either import or offshore skills provides one potential solution to the future skills crisis, however, cross-border recruitment and offshoring come with a political price tag. Those concerned over levels of immigration or the loss of work to emerging markets like India, China and Mexico may well have to re-evaluate their opinions as local worker participation levels start to decline and threaten economic growth.

At the same time, we should not forget that, both workers and employers will continue to place a high priority on convenience and familiarity. Despite the broadening horizons and opportunities engendered by globalisation, most people still want to work locally and most employers still prefer to recruit locally.