Majority of mobile professionals around the world consider overseas work experience as key to their career growth and development, a new report said, with Australia emerging as one of the top destinations for these migrant workers.

The country, in fact, was topped only by the United States, which traditionally has become the most preferred location by global workers looking for greener pastures, in 'The Global Professionals on the Move 2012' report released on Thursday by human resource specialist Hydrogen Group.

The report was based on the survey conducted in November 2011 by ESCP Europe and collected answers from 2353 professionals that represented the working pulse of 85 countries, Hydrogen said.

Many of the survey respondents, Hydrogen managing director for Australia Ivan Jackson, picked out Australia as their number two choice among preferred countries that they would relocate to for work and other important concerns.

Apparently, the country has become attractive to a great number of professionals due to its famed standard of living, arguably one of the best in the world, and the lifestyle being enjoyed by its citizens, as well as the countries burgeoning migrant workers.

The ongoing mining boom, which presently has a pipeline projects worth close to a trillion dollars, also acted as a strong magnet for prospective workers from many corners of the world, Jackson said.

These workers, he noted, could considerably fill up the skills shortages that the resource sector had said could derail present and future mining projects in Australia.

Hydrogen has estimated that up to $450 billon worth of projects in the resource industry has been lined up for full-scale operations and "a lack of relevant skilled professionals is one of the main barriers to bringing these projects to fruition," according to Jackson.

"Many oil and gas projects are reaching a point where they will suddenly need several thousand extra workers ... In the next two to three years recruitment to Australia will be at its highest ever," the Hydrogen executive was quoted by the Australian Associated Press (AAP) as saying.

And workers coming from outside of Australia would get more chance of landing a job in the country and in the resource sector if they posses previous international employment experience, Jackson said.

The Hydrogen report highlighted the preference placed by resource firms in hiring workers that were previously deployed in postings outside of their native countries, with up to 59 percent of workers stating such preference.

And in the event that the applicants previously worked in the energy sector, also outside the country of their origin, they definitely would increase their chances of taking part in Australia's mining boom, the report said.

The global energy sector, Hydrogen said, has lately been attracting influx of new professionals, who see the industry as their gateway to job placements abroad.

These workers, from around 80 percent to 90 percent, have indicated that job postings outside of their respective countries would lead to personal, professional and financial gains.

Men aged 40 and up comprised some 50 percent of the pack surveyed by the report, Hydrogen said, while women made up about 15 percent, also in the same age bracket.