As companies report a rise in opportunities for international assignments, new research shows that more women and younger people are joining the expatriate workforce.

17 March 2006
 
AMSTERDAM - As companies report a rise in opportunities for international assignments, new research shows that more women and younger people are joining the expatriate workforce, and as many as 21 percent of transferees leave their jobs during assignments.

The 11th annual Global Relocation Trends Survey produced by GMAC Global Relocation Services and the National Trade Council, shows that 47 percent of the participating companies reported an increase in the size of their current expatriate population over 2005.

Repatriation, international career managment a challenge

However, multinationals need to manage international careers and repatriation better.

The research shows that 21 percent percent of expatriate employees leave their companies in the midst of international assignments and another 23 percent do so within one year of returning from one.

Women gaining airmiles

Female international careerists are increasing, with a record 23 percent of international assignees last year being women, compared to 14 percent from the 2004 survey. This is the first time women have constituted more that 20 percent of the total expatriate workforce reported GMAC.

Expats get younger

Assignees are also getting younger, with 54 percent of expatriates last year being between the ages of 20 and 39, compared to a historical average of 41 since the first GMAC survey was done in 1994.

Family concerns remain an issue

Family concerns and spouse career remain the top reasons for employee refusal of an assignment, with 67 percent of respondents citing family concerns as the main cause for assignment failure. Employees gave spouse or partner dissatisfaction as the top reason for backing out.

China, India, USA most  challenging locations 

China, India and Singapore are the primary emerging destinations for expats. However China and India, plus the United States, presented the greatest challenge for expatriates, according to the survey, primarily due to greater delays in the immigration process, visa issues and security concerns.

The likelihood of an employee failing to complete their assignment was highest in China, Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq.

Why expats choose to job-hop

Examining why so many expatriates leave of their own will while on assignment, companies believe that international workers are simply more marketable and receive more attractive offers from other employers as a direct result of their international experience.

Another reason is compensation. Expatriates find overseas assignment compensation packages to be more generous than home and jump from one company to another to maintain or enhance their expatriate status and related benefits.

Cost pushes companies to opt for alternative asssignment types

Another trend brought out by the survey was that companies seeking alternatives to long-term assignments - longer than one year - were at an all-time high. Out of the 62 percent of companies reporting this trend, the chief reason cited by 93 percent of them was cost.

The most popular alternative assignment types being implemented include localising expatriates, hiring local employees and short terms assignments.

The most common assignment objective was filling a skills gap, followed by launching new endeavours and building management expertise.

Return on investment still a 'grey area'

While 70 percent of responding companies said they required a clear statement of the assignment objective, and 52 percent required a cost-benefit analysis in addition to a clearly stated objective, only 37 percent actually compared estimated with actual costs, and just 14 percent measured the return on investment (ROI) for their expatriate activities. 

According to Rick Schwartz, president of GMAC Global Relocation Services, as companies realise the need to expand their expatriate workforces as a critical element of their global reach and success, "it will become even more important for companies to bring into sharp focus exactly how their expatriate programmes are producing a quantifiable return on investment."

[Copyright Expatica 2006]