LONDON — Britain's departure from the European Union would have immediate far-reaching consequences for the British job market as hundreds of thousands of British and European Union citizens want to leave the UK to work on the continent instead, according to a recent survey by the StepStone global private markets specialist found.

Some 600,000 British-based professionals plan to leave the UK, the study said, as the country becomes a less enticing work destination, the value of the pound falls, and the economy risks weakening amid coming restriction on the free movement of labor.

In the face of such staggering numbers, Germany stands to profit as the country needs qualified workers and is an attractive destination for such mobile professionals.

Depending on Britain's negotiations over the next two years, more than 2.1 million Europeans living in Britain will leave the country. Newly installed Prime Minister Theresa May has said that until the 1.5 million British citizens living in the EU were explicitly allowed to continue living there, the resident status of European citizens in Britain could not be guaranteed.

If Britain were to lose its access to the single European market, employees would leave the country because large companies with strong ties to Europe such as Vodafone, Easy Jet and banking institutions would be forced to move their operations on the continent.