International Surveys

Permits Foundation International Surveys

Part 2 of the Permits Foundation International Dual Careers Survey Report (October 2022) reflects the views of spouses and partners of highly-skilled international professionals during a period where organisations, employees and their families were rapidly adapting to new ways of working. It gathered feedback from 730 spouses and partners, with representation from 67 nationalities, in 103 host countries and with 130 employers cited from both public and private sectors.

Part 1 of the Permits Foundation International Dual Careers Survey Report (June 2022) reflects views and experiences of global mobility professionals during an important period of change. It attracted responses from 128 participants from over 64 private and public sector organisations, employing almost 4.5 million people.

The Permits Foundation Brexit Survey (June 2018) looked at the impact of Brexit on EU citizen employees, with a focus on family members during the transition phase and beyond. It was completed by HR and mobility managers in 74 companies, research institutes and universities in the UK. The report includes several policy recommendations to the UK Home Office.

The Impact of Removing the Unrestricted Right of Dependants to Work in the UK (2015) – This survey of 1063 expatriate employees was created in response to a review of the Tier 2 visa route by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) as part of a Government drive to reduce immigration levels. To read all of our respondent comments, please click here.

International Mobility and Dual Career Survey 2012 – Permits Foundation surveyed over 177 leading global organisations (employing almost 7.5 million between them) to look at the challenge of dual careers and its potential impact on business success, with some very compelling findings.

Expatriate Spouses and Partners, Employment, Work Permits and International Mobility 2008 – Global Survey Summary – This survey examines the views of 3,300 expatriate spouses and partners of 122 nationalities currently accompanying international employees working in 117 host countries for over 200 employers (in both the private and public sector), and provides evidence that a lack of spouse or partner employment opportunities adversely affects global mobility of highly skilled international employees. Alternatively, you can also download the Full Survey Report.

Other International Surveys

In addition to Permits Foundation’s global surveys (above), the following third party surveys also highlight the importance of dual careers and partner employment in global mobility.

The NetExpat and EY 2023 Relocating Partner Survey Report serves as a benchmark for companies as they evolve their relocation policies and bring awareness to the importance of the relocating partner. This latest survey gathers feedback from 650 corporate HR representatives, mobile employees and their partners. It highlights that in recent years there has been a marked and increased focus on employee and family experience, well being and DE&I. The results align with the Permits Foundation survey reports, enhancing the case for international dual careers support.

Some of the key findings:

Partner and family unhappiness is by far the number 1 reason for failed assignment
Family experience is central to the employee experience
The importance of a second income to families has increased. 74% of respondents said that a second income was either significant or critical (69% in 2018)
67% of policy owners find split family assignments arrangements to be challenging and disruptive for the family

AIRINC and NetExpat’s Joint White Paper 2021 – 2022 Understanding Mobile Employees’ Expectations acknowledges that in order to successfully remobilise international talent, it is critical to understand how candidates for international deployment have reacted to the experiences of the last two years. Striking key findings from the joint white paper, which align with the Permits Foundation 2022 survey reports, include:

Both employees and employers recognise that inadequate support for the family and a lack of opportunities for the assignee’s partner are significant barriers to mobility. (pages 6 & 9)
Health and wellbeing remain a concern for employees. (page 6)

EUFASA Research Department (ERD)‘s 2021 Gender and Identity in a Turbulent Space and Time: An Interview Study of Dual-Career Diplomatic Couples The first output of this longitudinal and qualitative study presents main results and sets the landscape of dual-career couples in the FCDO UK Foreign Service. It examines the dynamics of both work and relationships experienced by diplomatic dual-career couples. It highlights among others, the need to acknowledge the importance of careers for both partners and to provide dual-career couples with institutional support. This strikes a chord with Permits Foundation’s 2022 survey report – recognising the importance of dual-careers and partner support.

The NetExpat and EY 2018 Relocating Partner Survey Report gathered information from 3,412 respondents including 320 senior HR representatives from both corporations and international governmental organisations, 2,086 mobile employees, and 1,006 expat partners.

It found that:

“Employers confirm that the number one reason for employees not accepting an international assignment is the potential disruption to the career of their relocating partner.
Today’s mobile employees are no longer interested exclusively in the financial aspect of their international assignment package – they are extremely concerned about the fate of their partners while abroad.
There is an increasing number of dual career couples who depend on the income of partners during international transfers; 77% of partners are now working before assignment.”

Global Mobility Trends 2016 – Breakthrough to the Future of Global Talent Mobility by Brookfield Global Relocation Services.

Brookfield have released the results of their 2016 Global Mobility Trends Survey, revealing perspectives from over 160 multinational organizations. The section on ‘family-related assignee issues’ (p.67) highlights some key findings on spouse/partner career concerns, including:

Spouse/partner employment is on the rise: 49% of partners/spouses accompanying the assignee are employed before the assignment (vs. 47% historical average) and 16% are employed both before and during the assignment (vs. 13% historical average).
Impact on attracting first-choice candidates: 83% of respondents believe that spouse/partner employment has an impact on their ability to attract first choice candidates.
Impact of Spouse/Partner Employment on Assignment Acceptance: only 5% of survey respondents believe that resistance will decrease in the future.