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SPECIAL ADVERTISEMENT
International Assignments Slow? Or Steady… A recent survey holds some surprising results for international long term assignments.
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nternational assignments are a costly investment for both company and assignee. Concerns when accepting an international long term assignment include potential issues facing a spouse and children, and sometimes even extended family. For these and other reasons, many companies offer comprehensive assignment benefits packages designed to ease the transition to a new host location. Companies providing these benefits become deeply invested in the success of an assignment. In the still recovering global economy, many companies are experiencing reduced profitability. This downturn affects company-directed cost savings initiatives, including those associated with relocation. At AIReS, we’ve observed both increases and reductions in relocation volume with our clients and prospects. Recently, AIReS’ Consulting Services conducted the first in a series of surveys to assess these trends and benchmark industry Best Practices. This Long Term Assignment Policy survey pulled from diverse companies, some of which include those in the manufacturing, health services, and telecommunications industries. The first surprising result from this survey is that long term relocations in general, defined as lasting one year or more, either rose or stayed consistent throughout 2009. While some companies did report a reduction in volume, approximately half of those surveyed indicated that activity was consistent with the previous year, while one quarter reported a rise in volume. The majority of survey respondents made changes to their assignment policies over the
past two years, a common response to the current economic climate. High cost benefits, such as housing, goods and services, and children’s education are areas that clients have modified, and are being watched for trends geared towards finding fair and equitable opportunities for reducing costs over time. However, with an increasing need to assure successful relocations, additions or enhancements were also made to some programs, which may indeed add to the service delivery costs, with the expectation that the probability of assignment success will be positively affected. The top reasons noted for policy modification included further alignment with industry Best Practices, reducing overall costs, and increasing assignee satisfaction. At AIReS, we understand the importance a successful relocation means to getting your assignee productive in their new position quickly. A focus on the family is a key differentiator for us when approaching long term assignments, a truly unique advantage when partnering with AIReS.
AIRes 6 Penn Center West, Suite 200 Pittsburgh, PA 15276 Tel: 412-788-0461 • Fax: 412-788-0245 www.aires.com