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2009 Expatriate Talent Market Trends Survey

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A recent survey by Sibson Consulting of U.S.-based companies that operate globally found that 47 percent of U.S. multinationals are maintaining the size of their expat workforce, 18 percent are increasing it and 35 percent are decreasing the number of expatriates.

Other key findings include:

• 53% of respondents that employ expatriates in China/Hong Kong/Taiwan plan to keep their expatriate workforce the same.
• Companies increasing or keeping their expat workforce the same said the main reason was the importance of expatriates for their business strategies.
• Almost all companies that are decreasing their expatriate workforce reported doing so because of high compensation costs. Replacing expats with local talent was ranked as the top method of reducing costs with 51% of companies saying they intend to increase their investments in local talent.
• 67% reported that they are keeping expat pay the same, with 26% decreasing pay, and only 7% increasing expat compensation.

Despite the deep global recession, a large majority of U.S. multinational companies are maintaining or increasing the size of their expatriate workforces around the world. The operations function is by far the most prevalent one for which expatriates are recruited or deployed. The top-ranked skills sought in expatriates are industry knowledge, leadership ability and technical skills.

Over the last two years, there has been some change in the ideal expatriate job candidate profile, with greater expectations regarding language proficiency, cultural awareness and sensitivity. Nevertheless, expat business capabilities and experience continue to differentiate them from many local candidates.