international assignments global policy and practice key trends … · 2004-01-09 · international...

International AssignmentsGlobal Policy and PracticeKey Trends 2002

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international assignments key trends 20021

Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Expatriate population growth

Developments in policy and practice

Diversity

Flexibility

International remuneration approaches

The way ahead

Participating organisations

Further information

3

4

8

10

16

20

24

28

30

32


Our previous biennial surveys have been undertaken on a

region by region basis. The results have proved instructive but

whilst there is always a need to focus on best practice

amongst the companies operating in a specific country or

region we have found increasingly that our clients identify

themselves with their global competitors and peers rather

than those whose only link may be geography.

This is our first global survey and itenables companies to comparethemselves with industry groups on aglobal or local basis. At the same timewe have made the survey a continuoussurvey which can be updated on-line aspolicy or practice changes. In this waychanging trends and best practice areeasily discernible.

We would like to thank those of you whohave already participated and urge thoseof you who have not yet done so to assistus in broadening the base of information.The value of the survey will increase indirect proportion to the number of activeparticipants. This summary of key trendsrepresents our analysis of the most up todate data spanning almost 70,000 mobileworkers in 273 companies. I hope itprovides you with a valuable insight intothe world of mobile working.

David HopkinsPartnerHuman Resource Consulting

Foreword

Our ongoing study of international assignment global policy

and practice confirms the continuing growth of employee

mobility. This study refers to company sponsored employee

moves rather than individuals migrating under their own

initiative for work opportunities abroad.

The driving force of globalisation isresulting in a greater level of businessconducted on an international basis.Technology is enabling companies toaspire to a greater global reach and thusexpand their customer base. Withinorganisations, the role played byinternationally mobile employees hasalways taken on a variety of guises, but there is now a growing measure of explicit recognition, for examplethrough written policies. Greaterinternational mobility is perceived as a positive factor in supporting a globalcorporate culture and fostering a workingenvironment open to new approaches asa result of the cross-fertilisation of ideasand practices.

Empirical surveys into corporate practiceprovide an invaluable insight intodevelopments in international assignmentpolicy and practice. Information onmarket practice can be beneficial indetermining a competitive expatriatepolicy. However, the circumstances inwhich a policy is to be employed is

critical and it is common practice to lookto the practices of ‘similar’ organisationsas a guide. Organisations establish theirpeer groups based on various criteria,including but not exclusively:

• size of the expatriate population

• anticipated duration of their assignments

• typical home and host countrycombinations for their assignees

• reasons behind internationalassignments, for example skills transfer, management function orcareer development.

It is important to adopt a holisticapproach when considering the mostappropriate policy and avoid thetemptation of determining the validity ofa particular compensation element inisolation. For example, someorganisations that have dropped incentivepremiums have mitigated the change bysimultaneously waiving employeecontributions to host country housingcosts. Focusing on the practice with

human resource consulting

Introduction

4

“Our new integrated organisation with its pan-European

functions is changing the profile of the people we need to

employ. We want internationally mobile people, moving around

our different locations, sharing their experience.”

HR Director, Consumer Products organisation

respect to incentive premiums alone mayresult in a choice that reduces the overallcompetitiveness of an assignment policy.

Traditional expatriate assignments can beexpensive and good business practicedemands that a cost-benefit analysis foreach assignment be considered. Thedynamics within global organisations,allowing recipient business units toquestion the rationale for particularassignment packages is becoming morewidespread. As international employeemobility grows, organisations areresponding to the need for greaterdiscernment in establishing the businessand personal drivers behind internationalmoves. As a result, organisations areincreasingly differentiating betweenstrategic and operational moves, withspecific, quantifiable business needs andthose that should be encouraged, but forwhich there is no business case tosupport the expense of a full expatriatepackage. The drive for flexibility can alsobe seen in the greater use of alternativetypes of international assignment and inthe widespread interest in flexibleexpatriate packages.

There is a broad spectrum ofinternational assignments withinorganisations, including:

• long-term assignments

• short-term assignments

• permanent transfers

• commuter assignments

• rotator assignments

• use of contractors

• international hires

• local hire of foreign nationals.

Flexibility in the types of movessupported is required, in part, to balancethe need for international mobility withthe expense of expatriate moves. There is an increasing willingness on the partof some individuals, particularly youngerpeople, to view an internationalplacement as an experience that doesnot necessarily require additionalfinancial compensation. As someorganisations try to adopt a more globalapproach in their managementstructures, the link between internationalexperience and career progression hasbecome stronger. At the same time,many individuals view internationalexperience as a significant benefit initself, which makes them more‘employable’ in the job market. Thiscontrasts with the perception, and insome organisations the reality, thataccepting an international assignmenthinders overall career progressionbecause of the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ syndrome.

Expatriate assignments are one of themost, although by no means the only,explicit approaches adopted by manyorganisations to international employee


“Mobility is increasingly

driven by the individual,

and international

assignments are filled

through open-resourcing

facilitated by a fluid

internal labour market

which has a distinctly

international profile.”

Expatriate HR Manager, Oil& Gas company

“The required

employee mindset is

changing – flexible,

willing to move and

adaptable to change.”

HR Director, ConsumerProducts organisation

mobility. PwC’s international assignmentssurvey covers policy and practice forsuch moves in detail. As of January2002, 273 organisations with nearly70,000 expatriates have participated inthe survey. The full survey results arerestricted to participating organisations,however we have drawn on the data toillustrate here some of the key themes ininternational employee mobility anddraw out some analysis of current trends.

Whilst there are common issues faced byall organisations when managing theirinternational employee mobility, detailedanalysis of the survey results highlightedsignificant differences in approach, ofteninfluenced by both the practices ofindustry peers and also the geographicalperspectives determined by theheadquarters location. There are manyfactors at work in determining anorganisation’s international employeemobility policies and care should betaken not to oversimplify the complexsegmentations in the workplace.

The size of an organisation’s population,both in terms of the entire workforce andin absolute numbers, can influence thechoices made with respect to expatriatepolicy and its administration. A smallassignee population may allow for moreflexibility in negotiating tailored deals foreach expatriate. At the other end of thescale, large assignee numbers may lead

to a greater segmentation in type beingformalised in assignment policy, forexample there may be a clear distinctionbetween career expatriates and thosewho repatriate home after oneassignment abroad. The participatingorganisations in this survey areheadquartered in over 17 countries, withstrong participation from the US, UK andGermany. The average expatriatepopulation size is 258, although forEuropean companies the average washigher at 294 assignees. Population sizesdiffered significantly between differentindustry groups, with oil and gascompanies reporting the largest averageexpatriate population (560) in contrast tomanufacturing organisations which hadthe smallest (168). The average infinancial services was 213, however

human resource consulting6

36%

3%3%7%

51%

Location of worldwide headquarters

Introduction continued

North America

Europe, Middle East and Africa

Asia Pacific

Other

Not applicable

when investment banks are consideredseparately their typical expatriatepopulation is almost double this at 390.

Western Europe is the top assigneelocation hosting 36% of all assignees,followed by North America with 19%.Just over a quarter of expatriate movesare to developing markets, such asChina and Eastern Europe.

Generally, the geographical spread forNorth American and Europeanorganisations is fairly similar, althoughAfrica is an exception hosting nearly onein ten European expatriates but only 1%of North American assignees. Lesssurprising, is the relatively high presenceof oil and gas expatriates in the Middle

East and Africa and of investment banksin the Far East, reflecting the nature oftheir global businesses. The hostlocations can have a significant impacton policy and practice. For example, theprovisions required for assignees on oilrigs in developing markets are likely todiffer in a number of aspects from thosefor investment bankers located in one ofthe world’s financial centres. Thegravitational pull of global cities such asNew York, London and Singapore mayreduce the need for financial incentivesdirectly linked to mobility.


36%19% 5% 5%5%

5% 2% 8%6% 3%

5%

Western Europe 36%

Central & Eastern Europe 5%

North America 19%

South America 6%

India 2%

Middle East 5%

South East Asia 8%

Japan/Korea 5%

China/Hong Kong 5%

Australasia 3%

Africa 5%

Geographical spread of international assignees

When asked to anticipate the changes in their expatriate

population over the next two years, respondees gave an

overall picture of continuing growth. In all regions, there is a

greater number predicting increases in both long and short-

term assignment populations.

Western Europe leads the regions inanticipated growth in assignee numbers,closely followed by North America andChina. Western Europe already hosts thehighest proportion of assignees of anyregion. Corporate restructuring on pan-European rather than national lines, on-going European economic integrationand demographic changes, such as theageing of the European workforce, haveall been identified as drivers for theanticipated increase in mobility. Forshort-term assignments, Europeanorganisations are leading the way withhalf predicting growth in Western Europeand only 5% anticipating a decrease.

China’s accession to the World TradeOrganisation and the expected boost totrade as a consequence, explains in partthe forecast of long and short-termassignment growth. As the world’s fifthlargest exporter and sixth largest importerof manufactured goods, and with wellover one billion consumers, China’s entryinto the global trade body is likely tohave a significant impact. Oil and gas

organisations, in particular, identifiedChina as a growth area with 55%predicting an increase in long-termassignments. A higher proportion ofEuropean companies (43%) anticipatemore long-term assignments in China,compared to only 28% of NorthAmerican firms. Interestingly, nearly athird of organisations predict an increasein short-term assignments to China,which is often viewed as a locationwhere the cultural preference favoursbusiness relationships built up over time.In such an environment, the relativesuccess of short-term assignments will behighly dependent on the role and thelevel of engagement required with local nationals.


Expatriate populationgrowth

8

Following September 11 and themore unsettled economicoutlook, many organisationshave begun a period ofdownsizing their workforce. As yet, the impact on expatriatenumbers is far from clear,although the initial feedbackfrom businesses is that thedemand for internationalmobility remains strong overall.It may be the case that theeconomic impact may takelonger to filter through tointernational mobility. However,this economic uncertainty couldactually increase the importanceof such mobility as an explicitexpression of an organisation’svalues and culture. Internationalassignments in this contextwould be seen as evidence of a continuing commitment to a company’s international business operations.

“A major factor is that our retail customers are centralising their

buying decisions and have a European view of purchasing.

They no longer want to deal with a separate sales manager in

each country.”

HR Director, Consumer Products organisation


Western Europe

North America

China

Central & Eastern Europe

South America

Japan/Korea

Australasia

Middle East

Africa

Indian Subcontinent

South East Asia

0 10 20 30 40 50

18%39%

36%16%

12%36%

10%28%

25%18%

24%16%

20%16%

18%14%

16%11%

16%14%

15%13%

Anticipated regional increase/decrease in long-term expatriate numbers over the next two years

Western Europe

North America

China

Central & Eastern Europe

South America

Japan/Korea

Australasia

Middle East

Africa

Indian Subcontinent

South East Asia

0 10 20 30 40 50

11%41%

31%5%

9%30%

12%27%

5%27%

24%16%

22%10%

16%10%

15%13%

15%9%

14%8%

Anticipated regional increase/decrease in short-term expatriate numbers over the next two years

Decrease

Increase

DecreaseIncrease

Participants were asked to rate the importance of a number of

trends in the evolution of their organisation’s international

assignment policy and practice.

Eight out of ten organisations identifiedcost reduction as either ‘very important’ or ‘important’ in the evolution ofinternational assignment practices. This isunsurprising in a global marketplacewhere organisations are faced with newcompetitors, putting profit margins underintense pressure. As the global economycontinues in troubled economic waters,it is likely that the issue of cost willremain high on the agenda forbusinesses. However, a simplistic drivefor lower costs should not obscure thebenefit analysis for an internationalmove. There is often a higher return forthe business from a relatively moreexpensive move.

The concern for costs is reflected by thefact that over 80% of organisations runlong-term assignment cost projections forbudgeting purposes, although over aquarter of these do so only on a case bycase basis. The cost of internationalassignments is such that mostorganisations will as a matter of coursebudget for them, although this is notalways necessarily a straightforwardexercise particularly with respect to taxcosts. Interestingly, practice varies

between industries. All investment banksrun cost projections in at least somecircumstances, however 29% ofpharmaceutical companies and 25% ofmanufacturing firms do not bother withcost projections at all. The focus onbudgeting short-term assignment costsappears to be lower and nearly half oforganisations (46%) do not run costprojections. This may be in part due to the complexity of estimating homeand host country tax liabilities for such assignments.

European organisations appear to bemore relaxed about assignment costscompared to their North American peers– 74% rated cost reduction as veryimportant or important compared to 86%of North American firms. In addition,nearly one in four European companies(24%) does not run assignment costprojections compared to only 14% inNorth America which do not.Considering the relatively higher averagesize of European firms’ expatriatepopulations, this result is somewhatsurprising but may reflect their greaterwillingness to consider host countryremuneration approaches for


Developments in policyand practice

10

international assignments. In such cases,the costs of a local national salarypackage may be easier to identifywithout the need to run a specific cost projection.

The oil and gas sector has traditionallyhad relatively generous expatriatepolicies for what are some of the biggestassignee populations of any organisationand it is not surprising, therefore, to seethem rate cost reduction even morehighly than the global average. Incontrast, pharmaceutical firms, whichalso have relatively large assigneepopulations, gave cost reduction a lower emphasis.

Cost is acknowledged by manyorganisations to be a prohibitive factor inthe growth of their expatriate population.As the demand for increasinginternational mobility grows, traditionalexpatriate packages are coming underincreasing pressure, particularly in anintra-regional context. At the same time,improvements in technology andcommunications have made alternativeapproaches to international working,such as short-term, commuter and virtualassignments, more feasible. These newtypes of assignments are beginning tomove away from the full expatriatepackage. The growth in short-termassignments complements the significant

levels of project-based work incontemporary organisations. In a contextwhere short-term project workers areworking internationally withouttraditional expatriate packages,organisations may increasingly questionwhether such approaches are appropriatefor other types of internationalassignments. Such alternatives are notalways effective substitutes for long-termassignments. For example, there are realconcerns about the viability of commuterarrangements over an extended period oftime due to the build up of stressresulting from intensive travelcommitments and the impact onpersonal relationships.


Formalising or refining policy

Phasing out expatriates‘ allowance/programmes

Cost reduction

Simplify policy and administration

Reviewing selection, training & repatriation

Use of short-term assignments

Increase use of foreign nationals

Reviewing tax policy

Developing multiple policies

Use of virtual/commuter assignments

Increased attention to spousal issues

Regionalise programmes/Globalisation

0 20 40 60 80 100

What are the trends in the evolution of your company’s international service policy and practice?

Very important

Important

Somewhat important

Not important

Organisations tackle cost reduction in anumber of ways, including:

• reducing the financial worth of theexpatriate package – examples includeintroducing a housing norm deduction,use of an efficient purchaser orcustomised cost of living index and thephasing out of incentive premiums

• using alternatives to long-termassignments – for example, manyorganisations encourageunaccompanied, short-termassignments where the lower hostcountry housing rentals and theabsence of school fees can have asignificant impact on the overall cost

• differentiating between strategic andnon-strategic assignments, providingthe highest level of financial support tothose expatriate moves driven bybusiness need.

One barometer of the organisationalview on the business/individualmotivational balance is the use offinancial mobility incentives. Anincentive premium is an explicit financialincentive for an individual’s internationalmobility. Its payment implies a need torecompense for the on-going‘inconvenience’ of an internationalrelocation or in some cases, it can bedirect compensation for the detrimentalimpact on an individual’s careerprogression being located away from aheadquarters location.


Yes

No

Case-by-case

Other

33%50%

41%59%

6%5%

3%3%

%0 25 50 75

Payment of an incentive premium for acceptance of overseasinternational assignments

Developments in policy and practice continued

Short-term

Long-term

The use of incentive premiums topromote international employee mobilityvaries considerably. Only 33% offinancial services and 36% ofpharmaceutical organisations always payincentive premiums compared to 69% ofoil and gas and 59% of manufacturingcompanies. It could be that the nature ofthe host location may make suchpayments more common for oil and gascompanies, however there are otherassignment premiums (hardship/locationallowances) which are intended toaddress that issue. Short-term assigneesare less likely to receive an incentivepremium with 60% never paying one,compared to 41% of long-termassignments. Again there are industryvariations with only 17% of financial

services organisations (12% ofinvestment banks) and 37% ofpharmaceutical firms paying one in atleast some cases, whilst 61% of oil andgas companies would do so.

Asia Pacific organisations are relativelymore likely to use incentive premiumswith 78% paying them in at least somecircumstances compared to 60% ofEuropean and 56% of North Americanorganisations. As the balance shifts fromcompensating individuals forinternational mobility to recognising thatinternational experience is a prerequisitefor career advancement, organisationsare questioning the need for incentivepremiums. This is particularly the casefor intra-regional moves.

“There is a desire to get away

from the mindset of financial

incentives to work abroad.”

Expatriate HR Manager, Mediaorganisation

The importance given toformalising/refining written policiesreflects the need to accommodate thepractical challenges of managinginternational mobility within statedpolicy parameters. This is clearly a keychallenge for many organisations andgoes hand-in-hand with the need tosimplify policy and administration. Froman administrative viewpoint,international assignees are a relativelysmall, but very high maintenance,employee group. The need to offer apackage, which is in line with anindividual’s personal circumstances (forexample, school fees and spousalsupport) and host location conditions (forexample, tax and cost of livingdifferentials), can be a time consumingtask. The level of financial investment inwhat are often fast-track employeesrequires a high level of HR attention,although in practice the day-to-day workpressures limit the extent of any suchfocus. As assignee populations grow innumbers, the administrative burdens ofmanaging traditional expatriate policiesbecome more onerous and expensive tooperate. A significant number oforganisations have chosen to outsourcethe administration to external providersin order to be able to concentrate on thestrategic issues arising from internationalemployee mobility. Enthusiasm foroutsourcing expatriate administrationappears to be higher in North America


Oneworldwide

policy

Worldwide policyframework withregional policy

variations

Separateregionalpolicies

Other

58%50%

34% 34%

6%13%

2% 3%0

25

50

75%

International assignment policies

Short-term

Long-term

(12%) than in Europe (7%). The decisionto outsource is based not solely on theadministrative burden of managingsignificant numbers of assignees, but alsoto harness the benefits of technology,process efficiency and dedicatedassignment administration specialists.

For long-term assignments, a singleworldwide policy is adopted by 63% ofEuropean, 57% of North American and53% of Asia Pacific organisations. Nearlyone in five (18%) Asia Pacificorganisations use separate regionalpolicies compared to only 2% in Europeand 7% in North America. For short-termassignments, only a quarter of AsiaPacific organisations adopt a worldwide

policy compared to over half of bothNorth American and Europeanorganisations. Globally, 58% ofparticipants centralise their expatriateadministration through the worldwideheadquarters, whilst one in five devolvethe responsibility to regionalheadquarters and 14% to business units.Regional differences in expatriateadministration exist, with 62% of NorthAmerican organisations administeringtheir programme through the worldwideHQ compared to half of European andAsia Pacific organisations.

Analysed by industry group, oneworldwide policy was a relatively morecommon phenomenon for

telecommunications companies (70%long-term and 64% short-term). Oil andgas policies are much more likely toaccommodate regional variations (67%long-term and 77% short-term), whilstpharmaceutical organisations are themost likely to have separate regionalpolicies (21% for long-term and 29% forshort-term).

14% of organisations treat intra-Europeanassignments as relocation rather thanexpatriation and this rises to 19% ofinvestment banks and 23% ofpharmaceutical companies. Alltelecommunications companies treatsuch assignments as expatriation,compared to 79% of all participants.North American and Asia Pacificcompanies are much more likely thanEuropean organisations to consider intra-European transfers as relocation (20%compared to 6%). The greater easedemonstrated by non-Europeanorganisations in viewing Europe as asingle economic unit may overlook thestill significant cultural and regulatorydifferences between European Unionmembers. The impact on internationalassignment policies of the euro replacingtwelve national currencies from 1 January2002 is still subject to some debate. Forassignees working in the Eurozone’stwelve countries, the euro allows for agreater degree of transparency. Thecomparison between a finance manager’spackage in Rome compared to


Developments in policy and practice continued

Yes, as far in advance as possible

Yes, available on intranet

Yes, at orientation

No, in all cases

Yes, but abbreviated

Yes, just prior to transfer

44%50%

17%17%

13%15%

12%12%

10%8%

5%3%

%0 30 60

Provision of international assignment policy to employees

Short-term

Long-term

Copenhagen will become moreapparent. However, cost of living willremain a contributing factor, as it alreadyis within a national context, as will the impact of national tax and socialsecurity rates.

Greater transparency has been a growingtrend with many organisations adoptinga more open policy ensuring thatinformation is readily available to allemployees, often on the companyintranet. Communicating and involvingemployees in the development of HRpolicies engages the necessarycommitment to succeed. This opennesscan give employees the opportunity tofamiliarise themselves with the availableoptions if requested to work abroad and

allows for a more measured self-selection process. Only one in eightorganisations do not show theirassignment policies to their expatriates.The majority of organisations do sharethe information and 17% post thepolicies on their intranets. Placingassignment policies on an intranetensures access to data that is bothaccurate and timely to both employees,line managers and HR professionals. Theuse of the intranet rises to 35% oftelecommunications firms, 28% of oiland gas companies and 24% ofinvestment banks. Investment banking isthe most ‘transparent’ industry in thisregard with all respondents providingcopies of the policy in some format totheir expatriates.

As organisations attempt to deliver on their globalisation

ambitions, it is increasingly recognised that assignee

populations need to reflect the diversity of the global

workforce. This is apparent in the increasing use of foreign

nationals as a key factor in the evolution of their expatriate

policy and practice.

Global Mergers and Acquisitions activity,of which BPAmoco and DaimlerChryslerare but two high profile examples, hasresulted in the dilution of a dominantheadquarter country in manyorganisations. The resulting diversity innationalities can challenge assumptionsabout the role of expatriates within anorganisation. International assignments,open to all employees regardless oflocation, can have a symbolic role insupporting an aspiration for a globalcorporate mindset and sends a powerfulmessage to employees.

The reality for many companies,however, remains dictated by anethnocentric approach to internationalmobility. In such organisations, thecorporate mindset and the expatriatepopulation is dominated by theheadquarter location nationality andthese expatriates often take on the role ofpromoters of headquarter culture andvalues in the local subsidiaries. Such an

approach can be resented at thesubsidiary level and may proveunsustainable over time. In addition,employees outside the headquartercountry may feel frustrated if excludedfrom the opportunities arising frominternational experience. In seeking toadopt a global mindset, manyorganisations recognise the value ofdrawing on all their employee talentregardless of location. Whilst this is inpart to address the issues of equity for allemployees in a global organisation, it isalso reinforced by the practical need tolook beyond the headquarter employeepool in order to source the growingnumbers of international assignments.

Managing diversity in an organisationcovers a number of challenges includinglanguage and cultural differences as wellas age, gender, race and religion.Globally, approximately one in tenexpatriates are female, which equates toover seven thousand assignees in the


Diversity

16

“Our organisation reflects the history of growth by acquisition,

with a small head office which exerts limited control over the

group with business units operating autonomously.

Implementing corporate policies is very difficult… To create a

truly global organisation, we will have to embed a culture of

cross-border mobility into the organisation’s genetic code, which

will take 10 years. There is some appetite for this internationally,

but not yet in practice.”

Group Management Board member, Insurance firm

participating companies. Womenaccount for 11% of North American andEuropean expatriates, but only 7% ofAsia Pacific assignees.

There are big variations in the proportionof female expatriates by industry sector,as can be seen in the chart above.Investment banks lead the way withnearly a quarter of their expatriates beingwomen, however oil and gas,manufacturing and engineering firmshave a relatively poor record incomparison. However, this does notnecessarily reflect an absence of

awareness of diversity issues in suchorganisations. One oil and gasorganisation has recently questionedwomen employees as to why they hadrefused international assignment offersand as a result, has attempted to addresstheir concerns and issues in new policiesand practices.

Further research is required to determinewhether these proportions of femaleexpatriates reflect the proportion offemale employees in such organisationsas a whole, or at least in the roles whichmay require international mobility.


“The cultural aspects of

managing a global

business will be one of

the most difficult aspects

for us in the future.

We have attempted to

tackle these issues by

heightening awareness

surrounding culture and

diversity.”

HR Director, Technology company

“A benefit of mobility

is that it fosters the

cross-fertilisation of

ideas and innovation.”

HR Director,Manufacturing organisation

Investment banks

Financial services

Pharmaceuticals

Computers

Telecommunications

Oil & Gas

Manufacturing

Engineering

24%

17%

12%

12%

9%

6%

5%

4%

%0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Female proportion of international assignee population

However, the significance of therelatively low number of femaleexpatriates is likely to come under closerscrutiny in those organisations where amore explicit link between careeradvancement and internationalexperience exists. There is likely to be an increasing focus on whether currentinternational assignment policies andpractice reflect a glass ceiling for womenemployees. Companies should reflect onwhether their selection proceduresprovide sufficient support andencouragement to female employees toconsider international assignmentopportunities. Is the relatively lowproportion of female expatriates due toerroneous assumptions about theirattitudes to such opportunities by linemanagers and expatriate administrators?If an international placement is critical tocareer progression, it would be unwisefor an organisation to be complacent inensuring equality of opportunity for all employees.

Although not all expatriate partners arefemale, historically, organisations’ focuson gender issues in internationalassignments has been restricted to whatassistance, if any, can and should beoffered to an accompanying partner.Only one in five companies always helpwith a spouse’s job hunting in the hostlocation, 23% do so on a case by casebasis and 46% provide no assistance.

Practice does vary between industrygroups, with only 23% of pharmaceuticalorganisations never providing assistancecompared to half of oil and gascompanies. However, this may largelyreflect the realities of the host locationswith more opportunities for assistancewith intra-European moves(pharmaceuticals) than in developingmarkets (oil and gas). It is less commonfor organisations to provide assistance forshort-term assignments. Manyorganisations encourage unaccompaniedshort-term assignments in part toovercome the dual career barrier tomobility. The dual career issue is asignificant hurdle in the management ofan expatriate programme and wasidentified by 59% of participants inPwC’s 1999/2000 European expatriatesurvey as one of the main reasons forassignment refusal. The opportunities foran employee resulting from aninternational assignment can beoutweighed by detrimental impact of acareer break for the partner. In suchcircumstances, an unaccompanied short-term assignment may be a compromisethat a couple may be willing to accept.43% of organisations highlighted anincreased attention to spousal issues asan important or very important trend inthe evolution of their internationalassignment policy and practice. The typesof partner assistance offered differs inscope between organisations,

but can include:

• job hunting trips

• ‘Spouse Assistance’ programs (e.g. CVwriting, counselling, job search)

• retaining a search firm/headhunter

• work permit assistance (e.g. legal fees,information, advice)

• tuition/training orreimbursement/payment

• compensation for loss of spousal income.

However, whilst such spousal assistancemay be good from a public relationsviewpoint and can be beneficial inindividual cases, none of the optionsprovide a definitive solution to theproblem. This is especially the casewhere host country regulations restrictthe ability of a partner to work.Consequently, there is a limit to whatorganisations can do and future progressin this area may rely more on activity ata government level. Shell, together withmore than twenty leading internationalcompanies, including British Airways,GlaxoSmithKline, Schlumberger,Siemens, Unilever and PwC, hasestablished the ‘Permits Foundation’. Itsobjective is to promote the improvementof work permit regulations for thespouses of expatriate employees andraise government awareness of thenegative impact of work permitrestrictions on employee mobility.


Diversity continued

“Getting employees to move when their spouse has a good job

is a critical problem. It does restrict a lot of companies because

you have so many more two-income families today. The skills of

spouses with, say, legal or medical backgrounds are sometimes

transferable, but the relevant boards in the US wouldn’t

necessarily accept somebody who’s been certified in Europe,

and vice versa – unless special examinations or other tests have

been taken.”

International Benefits Executive, Insurance firm

Over half of North Americanorganisations provide no spouse jobhunting assistance compared to aboutone third of European and Asia Pacificfirms. It may be the case that Europeanorganisations, dealing with more intra-European Union moves where there areno work permit issues, have morepractical options in helping a spouse’sjob search. Work permit regulations andthe lack of reciprocal recognition forprofessional qualifications are the majorrestrictions on finding work for spousesand partners in many locations.

Just over half of organisations surveyedwould consider a same sex partner to becovered by their expatriate policies andthis rises to 86% of pharmaceutical firmsand 71% of investment banks. Incontrast, only 38% of manufacturingorganisations adopt the same view whilst51% restrict their definition of a partnerto a married spouse only. 78% of AsiaPacific, 62% of European and only 41%of North American organisations acceptsame sex partners as covered by theirpolicies. Traditional views clearly holdsway in North American firms with halfof them only considering marriedspouses, compared to 14% of Europeanand 11% of Asia Pacific companiesadopting the same line.


The drive for flexibility in organisational policies and practices

is partly driven by the need to source assignees from a wider

and consequently more diverse employee pool. Organisations

demonstrate flexibility in different ways such as deploying a

range of assignment types, to meet the individual

circumstances of an assignee or project and, offering flexible

expatriate benefits, allowing assignees a greater choice in the

make up of their overall expatriate package.

The absence of a written policy does notnecessarily indicate that an organisationdoes not employ a particular type ofassignment. However, where there is awritten policy, it is a reasonableindication that such assignment types areemployed within an organisation on aregular basis.

Pharmaceutical organisations arerelatively more likely to have writtenpermanent transfer (70%), developmental(50%) and commuter (40%) policies.Commuter assignments are typically usedin scenarios where the assignee’s homecountry and assignment location aregeographically close. The high number ofpharmaceutical commuter policies ties inwith the concentration of their assigneesin Western Europe – 51% of their totalnumber. As well as pharmaceuticals,financial services firms also have a

relatively high number of permanenttransfer policies at 53%. With such atransfer, an employee moves on to hostcompany terms and conditions on apermanent basis. The level of permanenttransfer policies in these industries mayreflect a greater need to encouragepermanent international moves as part ofengendering a global, or at leastregional, corporate mindset.

Developmental or graduate assignmentpolicies enable international employeemobility to take place for someemployees at a lower cost. PwC’sEuropean labour mobility project*commissioned research into the attitudesof Europeans of working age and showedthat a significant proportion would liketo live and work in another country inthe next five years. Enthusiasm wasparticularly high amongst younger age


Flexibility

20

*Managing mobility matters: A European perspective 2002.

“A new kind of expat – a commuting expat – is emerging.

A Swedish person may work in France Monday to Friday and go

home for the weekends. So that’s a type of part-time expatriate,

which opens up all kinds of issues with respect to taxes.”

International Benefits Executive, Manufacturing company

groups and it is this willingness torelocate that some organisations tap intowith their graduate recruitmentstrategies. Under the terms andconditions of a full expatriate policy,these inexperienced employees wouldbe unlikely to get the opportunity for aninternational assignment, as the costswould be prohibitive. However, afinancially leaner development policycan make such moves economicallyviable. In essence, this is an illustrationof organisations considering the balancebetween individual motivation (i.e. theindividual’s wish to experience workingoverseas and their long-term careerdevelopment) and the corporate businessneed for a particular individual to accepta specific assignment. The higher theindividual motivation, the less reliant anorganisation is on providing financial

inducements and/or guarantees ofprotection of current standard of living inits expatriate policy. European firms aremuch more likely than North Americancompanies (40% to 17%) to have awritten development assignment policy.This may reflect the greater willingnessfor younger Europeans to view an intra-European move as a domestic move on ahost country package or it may reflectthat the Europeans are more likely todocument the practice of using a hostcountry package.

Whilst commuter policies are ascommon in European organisations asthey are in North American ones, there isa striking contrast for virtual assignmentpolicies with only 1% of Europeanorganisations having one compared to11% of their North American peers. The


Long-term assignments

Short-term assignments

Business trips

Permanent transfers

Localisation

Development assignments

Commuter assignments

Rotator assignments

Virtual assignments

93%

81%

78%

43%

34%

26%

16%

10%

7%

%0 20 40 60 80 100

Types of written international employee mobility policies “Younger recruits are

looking for international

opportunities.”

HR Director, ConsumerProducts organisation

“The bank has been

eliminating the

programmes for long-

term expatriates for some

time and encouraging

short-term secondments

(project work) or

employment under local

terms and conditions

where possible… We

have established and

implemented standards

constituting five to seven

different employee

packages, including a

programme for junior

employees.”

HR Director, FinancialServices organisation

use of virtual assignments in Europe isnot uncommon, particularly followingcorporate reorganisation along regionalrather than national lines, so the absenceof written policies may reflect a more ad-hoc approach to such arrangementscompared to North American companies.

Flexible benefits are an alternativeapproach to the traditional provision ofexpatriate allowances and benefits.Interpretations of what is meant byflexible expatriate benefits can differwidely, as does the level of flexibility. In some companies, flexible benefits may just be the opportunity to take oneor two benefits as cash, whilst otherorganisations have developed moresophisticated cash lump sum approaches.A value is assigned to the usualexpatriate benefits, but the assignee mayspend this ‘allowance’ as he or she likes.Interest in, and the use of, a flexibleexpatriate benefits approach is consistentin all regions – 25% of North American,27% of European and 33% of AsiaPacific organisations already adopt theapproach in some form. Globally, 27%of organisations have adopted such anapproach and a further 14% are currentlyconsidering adopting it. The followingchart lists out the typical items includedby those organisations that have adopted,or are considering adopting a flexibleexpatriate benefits approach.

The flexible approach is particularlypopular in the pharmaceutical industry(36% already employing it) and withinvestment banks (35% currentlyemploying it and a further 20%considering it). The cash lump sumnature of the approach ties in with thecash focus of investment banks’remuneration policies.

The attraction of expatriate flexiblebenefits lies in the simplicity of providingcash allowances and the empowermentof assignees to spend their remunerationpackage as they wish. However, thesimplicity expected may actually result inadditional costs and employee questions

and concerns if the elements which haveflexibility are also the items mostimpacted by tax law and exchange rateand inflation movement. For example,paying a lump sum goods and servicesdifferential at the start of the assignmentwill create major issues for assignees inhigh inflation countries. In addition,paying housing as part of a flexible lumpsum will result in much higher tax costsin locations where company leasedhousing is a more tax effective approach.The tax, exchange rate and inflationissues can prove to be a significanthurdles to the successful implementationof a flexible approach.


Home leave

Host housing

Relocation payments

Hardship

Schooling

Goods and services

Car allowance

Medical insurance

Incentive allowance

Spouse allowance

88%

82%

80%

71%

68%

68%

66%

60%

48%

35%

%0 20 40 60 80 100

Of the 27% of companies who responded they have a more flexible policy – items included in a flexible expatriate benefits approach

Flexibility continued

“We would like to build some flexibility into the application

of the different packages based on the needs and business

orientation.”

HR Director, Manufacturing company


The most common approach worldwide to remunerating

expatriates is the balance sheet or build up approach, linked

typically to the home, but sometimes the headquarter,

country. Globally, 85% of companies use a home or

headquarter based remuneration approach for long-term

assignees, with only 13% considering the local market rate in

their determination of an expatriate’s salary. However, when

the results are analysed by the headquarter location some

differences emerge.

Some form of the home country salaryapproach is the overwhelming choice ofNorth American organisations and thisno doubt reflects the fact that USnationals on assignment are invariably inlocations with lower salary levels andstandards of living. Whilst it remains themost likely choice, Europeanorganisations are less firmly wedded tothe home country approach and aquarter, at least, consider the localmarket rate in determining theirexpatriate packages. This, in large part isdue to the ability of the Europeanorganisations to provide a local marketrate which still provides a similarstandard of living when compared to theassignee’s home location.

Where organisations have regionalpolicies, the use of local market rates is

relatively more common, particularly inWestern Europe and North America. InWestern Europe, 19% of North Americanand 33% of European organisations usesome form of local market rate and afurther 3% and 8% respectively at leastconsider it in the determination of theexpatriate package. In North America,half of the European companies usesome form of the local market rate and afurther 8% consider it.

Practice does vary by industry. All oil andgas participants use some form of homecountry salary approach and this nodoubt reflects their typical assignmentlocations, often in developing marketswhere local market rates would not beacceptable to expatriates. 25% ofinvestment banks, 22% oftelecommunications companies and 21%


International remunerationapproaches

24

of pharmaceutical firms at least considerthe local market rate in determining theirexpatriate packages.

The balance sheet/build up approachoriginated in the US oil industry and isbased on the premise that the companybenefits from an international assignmentmore than an employee. There is animplicit assumption in the balance sheetapproach that there is a need tocompensate for requiring an employee to live abroad. With the balance sheet,the main benefit is that the assignee isfinancially ‘no worse off’ as a result ofthe assignment. However, from thecompany's perspective, there is an

administrative burden,which is increased ifthere are a number of home countries tobe considered for the expatriatepopulation. The attitude of localnationals to what they may perceive asexpensive expatriate packages and theacceptability of such packages to hostentities is largely influenced by thenature of the assignment. If the skill/rolecan be resourced adequately in the localmarket then there is likely to beresistance to accepting assignees on‘generous’ packages by the host entityand dissatisfaction at the perceived payinequities by local nationals. Theorganisational structure and the relative

autonomy of country business units willbe important factors in determining theirability to refuse such ‘costly’assignments. The perceived pay inequityresulting from expatriate packages maybe partly addressed if local nationals inthe host location have the opportunity toundertake expatriate postings on similarterms. The reality is that these issues aremost likely to arise in developed marketsand it is in these locations that it can beargued that the standard of livingbetween such locations is not so different

as to rule out a local marketrate approach. However, theperspective of expatriatesfrom high salary countries,particularly US nationals, tosuch reasoning is likely tobe highly sceptical.

Although the balance sheet remains themost common remuneration approachfor international assignments, someorganisations do adopt the local marketrate approach which links the expatriateto the host country salary structure.However, typical expatriate benefits such as host housing and education areoften still provided on top of a localsalary. This is commonly adopted fortransfers from low to high salarycountries and a number of companiesuse it together with the balance sheetapproach i.e. the better of home or host approach.


North America Europe, Middle Eastand Africa

Asia Pacific

93%

2% 4% 1%

%

0

25

50

75

100

75%

9%14%

2%

86%

0%7% 7%

International remuneration approach (long-term assignments) by headquarter location

HQ/home country based system

Better of home or host

Host based system

Other

In theory, a local market rate approachshould be administratively simpler for anorganisation (for example, there is noneed to run and update countless balancesheet calculations) and it obviouslyprovides some equity with local nationalemployees. However, in practice therecan be administrative difficulties if thereis an intention to maintain assignees inhome country benefit plans, e.g. homecompany pension plan. In addition, itcould be seen as a barrier to mobility forassignees from high salary countries andit is highly unlikely to be a viableapproach for moves from developed todeveloping markets.

In practice, both the balance sheet andlocal market rate approaches have theircomplexities and the choice betweenthem is not always clearcut. This leads usto the critical question - how strategic isa particular assignment? Where it is inthe company's interest for a particularindividual to move (due to theirskills/experience), then any financial lossto the expatriate as a result of a proposedmove will probably need to be addressed(i.e. the balance sheet). If internationalmobility is seen as a good thing for thecompany, but it is not essential that aparticular individual moves then there ismore scope for adopting the local marketrate argument in developed markets orthe expatriate market rate in otherlocations. This raises the question of the

value the organisation attaches tomobility as a contribution to the ‘greatergood’ and who should finance it – thehome, host or headquarter business unit?

It is not uncommon for long-standingexpatriate employers, particularlyinvestment banks, to have internationalassignment policies that clearlydifferentiate between long-termassignment types. The traditional balancesheet approach is typically retained forstrategic or senior employee moves, withwatered down or leaner policiesavailable for other categories of long-term assignment. The advantage of thisapproach is that overall assignmentprogramme costs are managed, whilstthe reality that certain moves will alwaysrequire substantial financial assistance is recognised.


International remuneration approaches continued

“The traditional career expatriate pool has been substantially

reduced by two-thirds, with mobile workers increasingly

employed on local or local plus terms (the latter offers some

additional benefits) rather than expatriate terms.”

Expatriate HR Manager, Oil & Gas company


The message that international employee mobility continues

to grow is again confirmed by this survey. Over the next five

years we can expect this growth to be particularly strong in

Western Europe, North America and China, but all global

regions are anticipating higher expatriate numbers. Looking at

the trends, organisations need to make sure that their

business strategies are supported by sound mobility strategies

and that means reexamining current practices in light of these

trends and the increasing number of global assignments.

The need to move key employees aroundthe business, regardless of nationalboundaries, will be increasingly vital tothe success of a global organisation.Higher assignee numbers will forceorganisations to look beyond thoseemployee groups from which they havetraditionally recruited expatriates. This inturn will lead to an ever greater diversityin the profile of internationally mobileemployees and consequently, areassessment of traditional approaches toexpatriate assignments. Diversity toucheson both nationality and gender issues,amongst others. The relatively lowproportion of female expatriates is likelyto come under increasing scrutiny,particularly in those organisations wherea clearer link between career progressionand international experience isestablished. Such organisations will need

to be careful to ensure that their currentassignment policies and practices do not favour one group over another.Proactively questioning why they have so few female expatriates should be thefirst step in understanding the scale ofany problem.

Globalisation has led to the entry ofmany new companies into theinternational dimension and naturallyenough, the policy needs and responsesof organisations differ according towhether they have well-establishedexpatriate populations. Those that havelong established policy and practice inthis area include some which aredemonstrating a more sophisticatedunderstanding of the potential for using acombination of approaches to managetheir internationally mobile employees.


The way ahead

28

They are recognising the variety ofmotivations and factors, both corporateand individual, which drive internationalmobility. As a result, many are becomingmore discerning in the use of traditionalexpatriate policy solutions.

Cost pressures are a significant factor inthis reassessment, as assignee growthputs real strain on the premise that allexpatriates require generousremuneration packages to move. Suchtraditional policies can actually inhibitmobility as host country business unitsquery the need for expensive assigneepackages and in some organisations,increasingly refuse to take the cost.However, an objective for many globalorganisations is to create an internallabour market, which draws on aninternational talent pool and allows themto resource efficiently, job requirementsanywhere in the world. In suchcompanies, a more balanced response,taking into account the variety ofinternational moves, is allowing them tobegin to address this conundrum.


In thinking about an organisation’s future, we believe that the following questionsneed to be considered:

1. Does your use of different types of mobile worker fit your overall business aimsand objectives and add value to your business?

2. Do you have sustainable global policies for managing your employee workinginternationally, for example covering recruitment and retention, remunerationand diversity?

3. Do you have a clear view about how technology will affect your future needfor mobile workers, for example in enabling you to organise yourself so as toreduce your reliance on mobile workers?

4. Have you considered all potential pools of workers including the local labourforce and older mobile workers, as well as how to capitalise upon the appetitefor international working amongst younger age groups?

5. Have you assessed the additional cost of employing a mobile worker onexpatriate terms and conditions as opposed to local terms and conditions?Have you taken any steps to reduce the additional cost?

6. Do you have a one-stop information site for employees covering potentialvacancies and all aspects of international assignments? Do you provide foremployees to acquire (new) language skills?

7. Are foreign employees working for your business legally?

8. When you send a mobile worker to work in another country, do you complywith local employment laws, such as maximum working hours? Have youconsidered employment rights in both countries?


AB SKFABB Lummus GlobalABB Lutech Resources LtdAbbey National PlcABN AMRO Bank N.V.AccentureACCO North AmericaACE InternationalACI Packaging GroupAdaptec Inc.ADC Telecommunications, Inc.AFRICON EnginieeringAgere SystemsAir International GroupAir Liquide SAAir Products PlcAlcatelAlcoa, Inc.-Expatriate AdministrationAlfa LavalALSTOMAltellAMDOCS (UK) Ltd.American Express International IncAmerican Management Systems, Inc.AMP SocietyAMYLUM EUROPE N.V.Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc.Anixter, Inc.ANZ Banking GroupApache CorpAPL LimitedArkwright Mutual Insurance CompanyArmstrong World Industries, Inc.Aspect CommunicationsAT&T- International Human ResourcesAT&T Wireless ServicesAtomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL)Aventis Pharma Deutschland GmbHBabcock Borsig AGBank of MontrealBayer AGBechtel CorporationBellSouth International

Bently Nevada CorporationBeringer Blass Wine EstatesBMW GroupBNP ParibasBorealis A/SBP AustraliaBridgestone/Firestone, Inc.Brintons LimitedBristol-Myers Squibb EuropeBritish Airways plcBritish American TobaccoBritish CouncilBritish Telecommunications plcBrose Fahrzeugteile GmbH & Co KGBrown Forman Beverages WorldwideCable & WirelessCadbury Schweppes PlcCaltex AustraliaCameco CorporationCanadian Broadcasting CorporationCDC Group plcCentury 21 France SACharles Schwab & Co., Inc.Chemetall GmbHChevron AustraliaChevron Phillips Chemicals International nvChurch of SwedenCisco Systems, Inc.Coca-Cola AmatilConvergysCoty Inc.Credit Suisse First BostonCSR Building MaterialsDaimler Chrysler Rail Systems GmbHDana CorporationDanske BankDatascope CorporationDeere & CompanyDeutsche Bahn AGDeutsche Bank

(Europe, Middle East, Africa)Deutsche Bank (USA)Deutsche Gesellschaft für technische

Participating organisations


ZusammenarbeitDG Bank Deutsche GenossenschaftsbankDHL Regional Services, IncDHL Worldwide Express NvDow CorningDresdner BankDresdner Kleinwort BensonDresser-RandE & J Gallo WineryE. I. DuPont de Nemours & CompanyEastman Kodak CompanyEDSEDS AustraliaEdward JoneseLoyalty AustraliaEmerson Process ManagementEnergy DevelopmentsEnergy Services International LtdEni SpA

EricssonEthyl CorporationExodus CommunicationsExxonMobilFederal Express Pacific, Inc.Fiat SpAFidelity InvestmentsFirst Union - Capital Markets GroupFleet BostonFord Motor Company of AustraliaFrank Russell Companygedas GmbHGehe AGGeneral Dynamics Land Systems DivisionGeneral Instruments CorporationGeneral Motors CorporationGeorge N. Nikitiades & Associates LawOfficeGeorgia-Pacific Europe Ltd.GKN plcGlobal Crossing, Inc.Goldman Sachs InternationalGoodyear Tire & Rubber CompanyGovernment of Singapore InvestmentCorporationGrundfos A/SH.B. Fuller CompanyH.J. HeinzHagemeyer N.V.HarmonicHarris CorporationHeller Financial, IncHercules IncorporatedIBM AustraliaIBM CorporationICI PlcICLInfineum International LimitedING GroupIngersoll-RandIngram Micro Inc.Innogy Holdings plcIntelJanssen Pharmaceutica NVJDS Uniphase

JM Huber CorporationJPMorganKellogg CompanyKerry Ingredients AustraliaKimberly-Clark CorporationKLATKLM Royal Dutch AirlinesKnorr-BremseKodak (Australasia)KPN Telecom BVLafargeLAM ResearchLehman BrothersLevi StraussLexmark International, Inc.Lockheed Martin Air Traffic ManagementLucent Technologies (Malaysia)LYON DELLMadge Networks, Inc.

Mapfre (Corp) SAMarsh & McClennanMcDonald's CorporationMD Foods AMBAMentor GraphicsMitsui Babcock Energy LimitedMusgrave GroupNacional Financiera – LondonNational Australia BankNCC InternationalNCRNike (Australia)Nike (Europe, Middle East and Africa)NomuraNoranda Inc.Norsk Hydro ASANovar plcNovartis International – BaselNueva AGNuSkin InternationalOce Technologies BVONDEO Nalco Co.Opel Belgium NVOracle CorporationOrange PlcOtisParametric Technology CorporationPasmincoPeoplePCPepsiCo Inc.Pharmacia & UpjohnPhilip Morris Europe SAPhilips ComponentsPhillips Petroleum CompanyPilkington AustraliaPioneer Hi-Bred International Inc.Pitney BowesPMC Sierra Inc.Portola Packaging Inc.PricewaterhouseCoopersProcter & Gamble CompanyPTK CentertelQenosQuelle AGRandstad Holding NV

Rayonier, Inc.Reemtsma CigarettenfabrikenRoyal Bank of CanadaSCASchindler Management AGSchott GlasScience Applications Int'l Corp.SeagateSeagate TechnologySeagram Spirits & Wine GroupSecurenetShell InternationalShell Oil Company (USA)Siebel Systems, Inc.SiemensSilicon EnergySintercast LtdSmith International, Inc.Southcorp Holdings

Standard Chartered BankStandard LifeStatoil ASSTMicroelectronicsStorageTekSynopsys, Inc.SyntegraT. Rowe Price GroupTelecom Italia SpATelefonaktiebolaget LM EricssonTeleplanTelstra CorporationTescoThales Corporate Services LtdThames Water Asia/PacificThe BOC GroupThe Reader's Digest AssociationToyota Motor Corporation AustraliaTrelleborg ABTriaton GmbHUnaxis Managment AgUniCredito ItalianoUnilever AustraliaUnisys CorporationUniversal Music InternationalUniversal Studios Japan/Universal CreativeUNUMProvidentUPM - Kymmere Corp.VanguardVF CorporationVF EuropeVinson & Elkins LLPVirata CorporationVodafone Group Services LtdWarburg Dillon ReadWestern Wireless International CorporationWestinghouse Electric CorporationWestpac Banking CorporationWind River Systems Inc.WMC ResourcesWorldbankWorldwide Church of GodWyeth Europa LtdXerox Corporation

EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST ANDAFRICA

David Hopkins or Nichola KirbyPricewaterhouseCoopersPlumtree CourtLondonEC4A 4HTUnited Kingdom

Telephone: +44 20 7583 [email protected]@uk.pwcglobal.com

AMERICAS

Carolyn GouldPricewaterhouseCoopers400 Campus DriveFlorham Park New Jersey 07932USA

Telephone: +1 973 236 [email protected]

ASIA PACIFIC

Bob Gillen or Jennifer MillerPricewaterhouseCoopers215 Spring StreetMelbourne, VictoriaAustralia 3001

Telephone: +61 3 8603 6673 or +61 3 8603 [email protected]@au.pwcglobal.com

Richard Schulte or Evelyn LimPricewaterhouseCoopers8 Cross Street, 17-00PwC BuildingSingapore 048424

Telephone: +65 6236 [email protected]@sg.pwcglobal.com


Further information

32

If you would like further information on the issues raised in

this report, or would like to participate in our ongoing survey

of global international assignments, please refer to the

contacts below:

PricewaterhouseCoopers Human Resource Consulting practice works with clientswho aim to make their people a sustainable source of competitive advantage. Ourstrategy is built on our belief in developing our own people to be creative andeffective team players committed to outstanding client service. We bring the ability totake fresh perspectives, to think differently, to develop and implement new and valueadding solutions.

We work in close relationships with clients to offer practical, multi-disciplinaryapproaches to the ever more complex challenges facing businesses. One of the mainchallenges is to create environments where their people can work most effectively.Human Resource Consulting brings together all of the professionals within PwCworking in the HR consulting arena – tax, benefits, communications, assessment,education, equity, reward, staffing, regulatory, legal, and process management –affording our clients an unmatched breadth and depth of expertise, both locally and globally.

Our expertise in combining detailed tax, legal and regulatory knowledge withleading edge human resource practices and plan design sets us apart.

Copyright©2002 PricewaterhouseCoopers. All rights reserved. PricewaterhouseCoopers refers to the individual member firms of the worldwidePricewaterhouseCoopers organisation. Designed by PricewaterhouseCoopers studio ec4 (13706 04/02).

international assignments global policy and practice key trends … · 2004-01-09 · international...

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