Overcoming barriers to international relocation

Although the expatriate assignment package has been trimmed back in recent years as organisations strive to become more competitive, the contents still provide a number of benefits that aim to encourage employees and their families to relocate abroad. Sue Shortland explains.

When employees and their families are asked to relocate abroad, the prospect of living in a foreign country may seem daunting, even overwhelming. The reality of an expatriate lifestyle is far removed from dreams of tax-free income and life by the pool. Setting up one’s home and functioning effectively as a family during times of upheaval requires considerable employer support. As we’ll see, expatriate policies do typically provide a wide range of benefits to help families settle down, and for employees to become as productive as possible quickly.

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The Rise and Rise of Female Expatriates

Women’s participation in international mobility is on the up. Today, just under 17% of expatriates are female. Sue Shortland charts their progress in the international arena, and outlines what companies might do to increase gender diversity yet further.

Back in the early 1980s, very little was written about female expatriates – because there were simply too few to write about. Nancy Adler 1, a North American academic, set the scene by studying women’s perceptions and desires to take international assignments. She estimated that only three per cent of the expatriate population of the early 1980s was female. Research conducted in the UK by ORC 2 a decade later indicated that the number of women expatriates stood at only five per cent.

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Current Recruitment Trends within the Expatriate Market

Since the beginning of the economic downturn, and most notably in the last 3 months, we have seen an increase in the number of requirements for tax focused expatriate specialists. This has been apparent across all sectors and is in line with a more general need to ensure tax efficient reward planning for domestic and international employees. This has become particularly prevalent in the current market, where organisations are looking for ways to ensure costs are kept to a minimum and processes remain streamlined and efficient.

For the full news item see "Current Recruitment Trends within the Expatriate Market"

Expatriate Work Life Balance

Can work-life balance initiatives provide a solution to the dilemma posed by long working hours and the pressure of a global day that stretches across time zones? Sue Shortland reports on new expatriate research.
Read this article in full in the Winter 2007/8 issue. Access a digital copy.

International dual careers: latest policy and practice

Sue Shortland reports on the implications for dual-career policy and practice for internationally mobile employees in the light of the current economic picture.

As the recession bites, it would be predicted that organisations will reduce their corporate spend on supporting mobility as they are obliged to tighten their belts. It might also be predicted that the business case for promoting diversity will begin to crumble as labour markets become less difficult in terms of manpower supply. ORC Worldwide has recently released its 2008 survey on dual careers and international assignments – the latest in a series that was originally launched back in 1990 – and this supports these predictions.

Read the complete article at "International dual careers: latest policy and practice"