partners can bring to the host country labour market via local employment opportunities. For employees and their employed partners, international work experience helps to develop cultural competence and improve leadership capabilities, thereby enhancing future career success.
PARTNER EMPLOYMENT AND THE PANDEMIC The pandemic has brought a new twist to the international dual career/partner employment agenda. Organisations have come to experience greater resistance from employees and their families to international mobility due to health and well-being concerns. In addition, health regulations and responses by governments to the pandemic have led to restrictions on international travel. This has resulted in various outcomes including split families, assignees confined to their home countries, assignees working from home in the host location, or assignees working from a third location. There has also been evidence of early assignment returns. Virtual assignments have become more commonplace
and where these have operated from the home country, this has reduced pressure on employers and couples to access foreign partner employment. Business has recognised that international travel may not be necessary at the same level going forward as pre-pandemic. Notwithstanding this, employers are cognisant that virtual assignments do not develop cultural competence and international leadership capabilities to the same extent as living locally on assignment. There is an important balance to be struck between building a global culture and international vs. virtual mobility. The pandemic has created an opportunity to
increase assignee diversity as working virtually means that minorities who otherwise might be precluded from taking up an assignment (such as LGBTQ+ assignees who cannot undertake accompanied mobility with same sex partners due to legal restrictions) can do so. There is also a gendered aspect to international mobility: women are reported as less likely to take up an accompanied assignment with a male partner than vice versa as male breadwinners are potentially less willing to give up their careers. Virtual assignments thus potentially assist women to gain international capabilities. It is important to note though that while expatriate
diversity might be widened, the quid pro quo is that the experience gained by these minorities via virtual international working does not equate to that gained from on the ground experience. Potentially this might still lead to ‘traditional’ expatriates gaining the leadership competencies that advance their careers further than those undertaking virtual mobility.
THE WIDER FAMILY A new trend identified by Permits Foundation concerns the employment prospects of older accompanying family members such as 18-19 year old children. During the pandemic, families opting to relocate abroad may not wish to leave children behind due to the potential for split families to become separated for indeterminate periods. This raises the question of work visa status for accompanying young adults. In addition, the definition of accompanying ‘partner’
is widening and becoming more inclusive. Decades back the partner was traditionally a ‘spouse’ or a ‘life partner’ of the opposite sex; today the accompanying
“IT IS RELEVANT FOR NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS TO CONSIDER THE VALUE THAT SKILLED ACCOMPANYING PARTNERS CAN BRING.”
individual may be a family member (such as a sister or other relative) who supports the assignee (for example as a carer for a dependent child). Again this raises the issue of employment opportunities for such accompanying individuals.
LOOKING AHEAD The Permits Foundation has raised the strategic importance of dual careers for businesses for many years now, highlighting how business goals can be compromised if action is not taken to support accompanying working partners. It is notable that the language has changed over the past two decades from a focus on supporting partners to pursue ‘dual careers’ to ‘partner employment’. Recognition that ‘dual career’ objectives may not be possible is giving way to emphasis on action to promote ‘employment’ objectives. Younger generations entering the expatriate arena
will simply not be willing to accept one partner giving up their employment and building a career from a series of work opportunities. Families are increasingly non- traditional in their composition as well. Added to this working patterns are more varied with greater emphasis on self-employment. Organisations will need a shift of mind-set going
forward to treat couples/families as entities in the international assignment process. Individuals selected for assignments are part of families. Employment access is therefore important to a range of individuals beyond the assignee. Action to improve it is critical if organisations are to benefit from global talent deployment, nations are to gain skilled workers and individuals are to be happy and fulfilled. Future emphasis must rest on supporting this ‘ecosystem’ and creating the employment access triple win.
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