Shortly after I blew out the candles for my 30th birthday, I found myself being assigned to be the head of an Australian newspaper bureau in Washington DC, a situation that seems surreal in current times.
This position, while seemingly grand, wasn’t as glorious as one might imagine. The bureau was essentially me — the sole staff member. Despite this, I wasn’t the youngest international journalist out there at the moment.
One thing that is truly remarkable, if we compare it to the present day, are the expatriate perks that came with the job. My accommodation cost was subsidised significantly, and I had access to premium health insurance, along with allowances for a car, a cellphone, newspapers, and quite a few other expenditures. If I had any offspring, their school invoices would’ve been covered too.
Many of my fellow expats were also enjoying similar benefits, such as yearly return trips home for all family members and funds for hiring accountants to tackle tax issues with the Internal Revenue Service. Some received additional cash, ensuring that foreign taxation did not put them in a worse financial situation than if they had chosen to stay put in their home country.
This kind of generous arrangement hasn’t been entirely phased out, but according to the insights I’ve received from specialists in corporate relocation, such deals are less frequent now across various companies, not just in the journalism industry.
I’ve noticed a growing trend: employees seem less inclined to contemplate working abroad. This change is likely due in part to the decrease in these previously lucrative expat packages.
Despite these changes, moving to another country for work still has remarkable benefits for both personal growth and career enhancement, and anyone who gets the chance will most likely attest to this.
This shift away from overseas working actually began before the pandemic, as traditional packages prepared for men and their non-working wives jarred with the rising prominence of women who often earned more than their partners. The expectation of a dual-income couple to halve their income and pause their career progression, in exchange for a less impressive expat package, always seemed rather unreasonable – especially if it meant dealing with the heavy pollution levels of Delhi or Tijuana’s high crime rates.
It seems though, since the pandemic, people’s inclination towards international appointments lowered even further, which came as a surprise to industry experts.
“I’m somewhat taken aback,” mentions Caitlin Pyett, a consultant at Crown World Mobility Group who has been in the relocation industry for almost three decades. Late last year, she began to notice a trend; companies across industries, from renewable energy to medical technology, were reporting difficulties in persuading their employees to take up positions abroad.
During the pandemic, an unexpected trend came to light, contrary to the rise of digital nomads – those young, tech-savvy individuals who merge work and travel effortlessly. Pyett’s company has begun research to understand this pattern. Older workers, those over 40, have discovered the comfort of working from home during the lockdown and question the need to return to office settings, let alone travel globally for work.
The attitude towards international assignments is also seeing a shift. Companies like Ingka, a major owner of Ikea retail locations, now opt for more flexible arrangements, such as commuting or project-based assignments in foreign countries. This approach has been stimulated by the rise of remote working and the challenges of balancing dual careers.
Broadly, the desire to work overseas has seen a drop, demonstrated in a global survey by the Boston Consulting Group. The study found that the percentage of workers willing to relocate for work fell from 78% in 2018 to just 63% in 2023.
Co-author of the study, Orsolya Kovács-Ondrejkovic, believes this trend might be due to global affairs becoming less accommodating to relocation in tandem with the emergence of flexible working practices. People no can work remotely from desirable positions without needing to relocate. The thinking of gaining beneficial experience and exposure from working in foreign locations, such as China while based in Europe, has evolved since the pandemic.
The given justifications are comprehensible, and I can grasp why the generously compensated expat roles may be declining. Nonetheless, relocating to a foreign nation for employment could potentially be an incredible experience, beneficial for both one’s personal life and professional growth. Anyone fortunate enough to undertake such an venture will undoubtedly discover this. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2024.