Global Trends
– The number of employees on international assignments doubled between 2005 and 2008
– In a recent global survey on expatriate trends, 83% of human resource, executive respondents said they expected their number of total expatriates to remain the same or increase over the next five years
– Women now comprise nearky 25% of expatriates sent on assignment by North American companies as there were in 2001. Companies in Asia Pacific reported 16 times as many, while companies in Europe report more than twice as many
Multinational Companies
– The average three year expatriate assignment costs $1 million.
– There are 25,000 multinational companies in the U.S.
– 40% of assignments fail to meet company/employee objectives – 20% fail outright.
– Every year about 500,000 Americans travel outside the U.S. – the equivalent of about 1.5% of the population.
– In a recent survey of 243 multinational companies with 94,000 employees on assignment:
98% of companies provide private medical benefits to expats.
66% provided international or tailored cover.
45% of short-term expats are on international plans.
33% use business travel plan to cover all short-term assignees
Expatriate and International Living
– Last year there were 27,272 cases of lost or stolen passports among British citizens traveling overseas.
– Healthcare is identified as the number one concern of expats with families.
– When deciding whether or not to take an international position, family concerns were the most important, followed by compensation, spouse’s career, and employee’s aspirations.
– The most critical assignment challenges reported were spousal resistance, family adjustment, and children’s education.
– Spouse/partner dissatisfaction is often cited as the top reason for assignment failure.
– Recent surveys have noted an increase in short-term expatriate assignments ranging from 3 to 12 months, as compared to the long-term assignments ranging from 3 to 5 years
Sources:
– National Foreign Trade Council
– Cigna International Expatriate Benefits
– World at Work
– Going Global
– Global Mobility 2008/2009 Global Benefits Survey: Expatriates and Internationally Mobile Employees
– International Travel Insurance Journal
