Unions say Britain could be put in absurd position of hiring staff from abroad to fill gap

One in six doctors and nurses and one in 10 teachers plan to move abroad amid fears of spending cuts and pay freezes in the public sector, a survey reveals today.

An opinion poll shows that 16% of employees in the health sector and 12% of teachers say they will leave over the next five years – driven in part by deteriorating prospects in the public sector. A third of those who would move cited tax increases and another third cited better job prospects.

Unions said Britain could be put in the absurd position of hiring staff from abroad to fill the gaps. "We have seen it in social work and health care where shortages have been filled by scouring the world for workers," said a Unison spokeswoman.

Stephen Hughes, director of Foreign Currency Direct, which commissioned the poll, said the results were not surprising given the "prospect of wide ranging cuts in the public sector". Favoured destinations included New Zealand and Australia.

The survey echoes warnings by experts that the scale of public sector cuts had been hidden during the election campaign and that there was deep unease in the ranks. Last month the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development said more than 500,000 public sector jobs could be cut in the next five years.

The jobs cull – nearly 10% of the 5.8m public sector workforce – would dwarf anything in the election manifestos. The institute said it was unlikely that pay cuts and short-time working could achieve savings for the Treasury.

Mike Emmott, the institute's employee adviser, said nearly 20% of public sector workers now thought they could lose their job compared with 7% a year ago. And almost 40% say their organisation is planning redundancies.

In addition, public sector workers are braced for an end to generous final salary pensions, after the government said it would establish an independent review of their "long-term affordability".

The coalition document spelled out that while existing rights would be protected, future retirement benefits were likely to be less generous.

The decision is likely to amplify grievances among civil servants, who went on strike in March over efforts to reduce redundancy payouts. Last week the Public and Commercial Services Union won a high court action to halt that measure, suggesting the coalition government's plan could also face legal challenges.

Teachers said a change to pensions could erode the considerable progress in improving recruitment. John Dunford, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "Changes should not affect people over the age of 50, otherwise there will be a risk of a mass exodus".

Martin Freedman, pensions expert for ATL, said: "There are already more teachers taking early retirement than there were five years ago."