International survey of expatriate spouses and partners – employment, work permits and international mobility
07 August 2008A new international survey aimed at accompanying spouses and partners on expatriate assignments worldwide has been launched today. Its purpose is to gather information about employment aspirations, challenges and possible solutions.
The survey is being carried out by Permits Foundation, which advocates the improvement of work permit regulations for the spouses and partners of expatriate employees worldwide. Specifically, Permits want legally resident spouses and partners to have an open permission to work during an expatriate assignment.
“In discussions with governments, it would be helpful to demonstrate whether the possibility to work affects attitudes to an international assignment’’ says Gill Gordon, chairman of Permits Foundation and Director of Executive Compensation of Schlumberger Limited in the UK. “We’d also like to know whether countries that allow spouses and partners to work are more attractive destinations than countries that do not allow them to work’’.
The results will also be of interest to employers when considering or reviewing support policies. Siobhan Cummins, managing director of ORC Worldwide’s international compensation practice in Europe, agrees. “Traditionally, international dual career surveys have questioned HR managers. This will be the first large survey to look in detail at employment and work permit issues from the spouse and partner perspective.’’ said Siobhan. “The survey will run concurrently with ORC’s 2008 dual career survey and we expect that the results will complement each other.”
The survey is aimed at expatriate spouses and partners who are interested in working, whether or not they are working at present.
