An Expatica award-winning survey by Mercer shows that companies are taking a more structured approach to international assignment management and are trimming costs by hiring expatriates locally.

The Expatica Top 5 HR Industry Survey Awards recognise excellence in HR surveys, commending human resource studies that demonstrate continuing relevance to the HR profession, cutting edge findings, and rigorous survey methodologies. The fourth-place winner in this year’s competition is Mercer’s International Assignment Survey 2009/2010. 

The survey traces the policies and practices of employee mobility management and is performed yearly.  The 2009/2010 report canvassed over 220 firms and its results were compared with Mercer’s findings in previous years’ studies.

The authors of the study note that at first glance this year’s results reveal few major changes or trends in international mobility management despite the current economic crisis.   The number of expatriates continued to rise, with some exceptions among North American companies and within the IT sector. 

On closer inspection, however, an analysis of the study’s details reveals two types of shifts: 

Firstly, companies are taking a more structured and tailored approach to international assignment management.  They want to make sure that assignments also provide a return on investment, for instance by focusing on key assignments, improving communication with the expatriate and family, improving the selection and follow-up process and, in particular, by segmenting assignment terms and conditions not only by assignment length but also by assignment type.

Secondly, companies are trimming costs by hiring expatriates locally instead of paying for expensive moves from the home location, by sending expatriates abroad on single-status instead of moving the whole family or by revising and adapting the policy to be able to minimise expensive exceptions.

The study notes that such cost-reduction measures can only continue to be made if suitable internationally mobile employees can be attracted and retained.  The current economic crisis has indeed temporarily deepened the candidate pool for international assignments in this regard. 

The study suggests, however, that an economic recovery will curtail companies’ efforts to cut costs by making technical skills in the host countries scarcer and by reducing the supply of mobile employees.   And thus, “the delicate balancing act between containing costs and recruiting the best people for international assignments will continue”.

The Expatica Top 5 Industry Survey Awards recognise excellence in HR surveys which demonstrate continuing relevance to the HR profession, cutting edge findings, and rigorous survey methodologies.  To learn more about the awards and the first and second place winners, please click here.

Expatica / Erin Russell Thiessen