Expatriation

KPMG has recently released it’s survey 2011 on global assignment policies & practices. Herebelow is a summary of the findings.

1- International assignments are still on the rise

A large majority of companies are considering either to maintain or to increase their international assignments.

Future use of expatriates in next 5 years :

• About the same: EU:46%; Asia:40%; US:41%
• Somewhat more: EU:33%; Asia:21%; US:34%
• Considerably more: EU:12%; Asia:17%; US:8%

Wealthiest expats are living in eastern countries, with Russia, Saudi Arabia and Bahrein being the 3 top destinations overall. These are the findings of HSBC expat explorer latest survey, which crowns BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) as the emerging expats hotspots, with expats in Russia & Singapore enjoying the highest income while mainland Europe (Spain, France, Netherlands and Germany) occupies the bottom of the rankings.

Dreamt of expatriation and reality: for the expatriate and furthermore his spouse, the relation between the most glamorous aspects of what had primarily been fantasied and reality of day to day life locally is sometimes far fetched. Even in Singapore, Heaven might occasionally taste like Hell, but nobody ushers a word about it: who would listen ?

10 years ago, Accenture conducted a survey on the characteristics of the "leader of the future". 10 years later, are those traits been integrated by today's leaders? During the last decade, the globalization of the economy has continued to expand, with the emergence of new key actors and an engine "made in Asia". The current business context requires new abilities from our leaders, stemming from a world that has become global, cross cultural and slightly virtual.

Book: 

Leading Beyond the Walls: Wisdom to Action Series

Social tools have taken such an importance in our daily life that it seems almost impossible to live without facebook, Youtube, twitter and the like. But such tools are not unanimously welcome around the world and some countries are actively engaged in hampering their use, which they consider a danger for political stability, moral code or religion. How do expatriates manage to live without Facebook when, as it's the case in China and other countries, the access to the website is forbidden?

According to a recent survey by ECA, expats in Asia feel the pinch of a weak US dollar, as currency exchange rates push up their local living expenses.

With a rising yen, Japan cities are the most costly living places, Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, and Kobe (in that order) trusting the four highest ranks in Asia.