Contract opportunities in South Africa and India are booming as the Coronavirus pandemic continues to shift the focus away from Europe. That’s according to a recent analysis of contractor placement trends from 6CATS International.

The leading provider of contractor management solutions revealed that the increased flexibility of work and a spike in remote working options for contractors has led to an uptick in demand for contractor solutions outside of Europe, with South Africa and India leading much of the non-EU demand for Q1 2021.

Across the sectors, demand for contract professionals across the pharmaceutical arena continues to dominate international contractor opportunities. According to 6CATS International, Oil & Gas, Engineering and IT have also noted a boom in activity in the first quarter of 2021.

Stefanie Cook, Sales Director at 6CATS International, commented:

“Europe has always been busy for contractor placements. Destinations such as France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands have long been hotspots of activity, but we’re increasingly seeing contractors, recruiters and end clients looking beyond Europe, with South Africa and India currently leading a significant proportion of the demand for contractor management solutions.

“Much of this shift has arguably been driven by the uptick in remote working options for contract professionals – meaning that recruiters and hirers are less limited by borders when sourcing temporary experts. Instead, we are increasingly seeing staffing businesses able to take a more strategic standpoint and focus on where the talent can be found, without concerns around in-country Right to Work regulations, immigration checks and visa requirements.”