The expatriate population is changing rapidly and is now more diverse than ever before. This shift calls for customised expat packages – not just for employees but for their partners as well. A westerner, male, aged between 35 and 50, married with children, on a three to five year assignment… all that is history.
What are the most significant changes?
- The proportion of female expatriate employees is growing steadily, up from 10 per cent in 1993 to 24 per cent today, according to the recently published Cartus survey Global Mobility Policy & Practices.
- Greater numbers of younger employees and more employees aged over 50 are being sent abroad. Between 2002 and 2012, the number of expat employees aged between 36 and 50 dropped from 70 per cent down to 50 per cent, according to ECA’s 2012 Managing Mobility Survey.
- Fewer expats now come from western countries, according to the 2013 Brookfield GRS report Meeting the Challenges of Assignments from Developing Locations. More and more expats today hail from India, South America and China.
- Long-term assignments are down, short-term and commuter assignments on the increase. The latest Brookfield Global Mobility Trends Survey confirms the trend: 27 per cent of companies are now considering a policy of localisation, with another 25 per cent looking at permanent one-way moves.
- Finally, fewer couples now go abroad with children. According to the Brookfield survey, 20 per cent of married expatriates now move abroad without their partners. The knock-on effect is a large jump in the number of ‘split families’. See: Survey: more split families.
One size fits all is inadequate
All these changes mean that a ‘one size fits all’ expat policy has become inadequate, both for employees and for their partners. Needs Assessments and on-going partner support can no longer be seen as a luxury, but as a necessary precondition for an assignment to succeed.
