Employers

Welcome to the Employers section which we hope will be a useful resource for companies interested in the growing issue of partner employment.

“Improvements for expat families are now visible in many countries where barriers for international mobility have been removed or reduced. We support and value the achievements of Permits Foundation!”

Andreas Baeuerle, International Assignments Manager, Robert Bosch, Germany

Read our Employers survey:

Permits Foundation recently surveyed 128 global mobility professionals from over 64 organisations employing almost 4.5 million people in both the private and public sectors. The results confirm that global mobility remains a fundamental part of an international organisation’s success.

Dual careers are becoming more common:

In our latest partner survey, 90% of respondents were in employment prior to moving to the host country. The majority of accompanying partners – 75% – were female (85% in 2008). Most partners were highly qualified themselves – 88% held a bachelor’s degree or higher. Yet 53% of partners were not in employment in the host country, despite the fact that 84% of those not employed wanted to be.

Partners face a number of challenges:

Whereas employees usually transfer within their company as part of a career plan, partners have to uproot themselves from their current job at a time they may not have chosen. They may have no professional network in their new country and the market for their skills may be completely different. They may face language and cultural barriers and their qualifications may not be recognised. Salary levels and other benefits may also be less than they are accustomed to. And as the accompanying partner, they often become responsible for setting the family up in their new location.

The cost of assignment refusals and early returns:

If the careers of both partners cannot be accommodated, this can have a negative impact on both the retention and deployment of talent, with cost implications for assignment refusals or early returns (including repatriation, and recruiting and training a replacement).

Our surveys showed that at time of taking part, 26% of partner respondents were considering leaving the host country due to work access restrictions. In 44% of organisations, employees had returned home early from an international assignment in the past 3 years due to concerns about the partner’s employment. And 67% of partners cited the need for a dual-income as important or very important.

DE&I matters

Our survey results confirmed that global mobility professionals support a broad definition of family members who can access employment in the host country. In promoting our aims, we support diversity and inclusiveness in employment and family life and we include both married and unmarried partners. Our world map highlights countries that recognise same-sex partners as dependants. In all our promotional materials, we use the word “partner” unless we feel that “spouse or partner” is necessary for context or clarity.

Supporting dual careers can aid success:

So what can employers do to aid success?

78% of the employers we surveyed said that their organisation provided dual career assistance either via a formal written policy, informal guidelines or on a case by-case basis. Of the many reasons for providing dual career assistance, most respondents cited that it helps to increase employee mobility and talent retention, supports family health and well-being, gives a visible family friendly policy or helps the organisation to become a more attractive employer.