Worldwide ERC Global Benchmarking

The primary objective of the Worldwide ERC survey was to gauge the level of transfer activity into Europe, the Middle East, and Africa through the end of 2009 for various types of moves and various countries.

Worldwide ERC Global Benchmarking:
Mobility Trends in Europe, Middle East, and Africa

The primary objective of the Worldwide ERC survey was to gauge the level of transfer activity into Europe, the Middle East, and Africa through the end of 2009 for various types of moves and various countries. In addition, the survey also sought to identify trends in transfer activity for second and third tier cities in these regions, as well as the challenges employers face in these cities. Following are the results based on the responses of 21 HR and mobility professionals who responded to the survey.

Level of Transfer Activity Through the End of 2009
Percent of Organisations
Type of Move‚ Europe

* Percentages do not total 100% because of rounding.

Demographics. More than half (57 percent) of the respondents reported that their organizations were headquartered in the United States. Other countries cited were: Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Two respondents said their companies had a global presence with no single defined headquarters.

Level of transfer activity by type of move. Approximately 70 percent of respondents anticipate an increase in the number of traditional expatriate assignments into Europe through the end of 2009. Only 5 percent project a decrease in these assignments. Other types of moves that are anticipated to increase in Europe are those for cross-border new hires and short-term assignments.

About half of the respondents do not expect any changes in the level of activity in Europe for the following categories:

International assignees who have been localised on host-country terms; permanent one-way moves; and cross-border commuters.

For the same projection period, 63 percent of participants expect an increase in traditional expatriate assignments into the Middle East and more than half project the same for short-term assignments into the region. The majority predict that the level of transfer activity for other types of moves will remain the same.

The majority of respondents anticipate that the level of transfer activity into Africa will remain the same through the end of 2009. However, nearly one-third of respondents expect increases in the number of permanent, one-way moves and cross-border commuters.

Level of International Transfer Activity Through the End of 2009
Percent of Organisations

Country

* Percentages do not total 100% because rounding

Level of transfer activity by country. By the end of 2009, three-quarters of responding professionals project an increase in the level of transfer activity into Russia and nearly 60 percent see a similar trend for moves into the United Arab Emirates.

Nearly 50 percent predict an increase of activity into Qatar and 40 percent expect an increase in moves to the Czech Republic.

Moves into second and third tier cities. Currently, 90 percent of survey respondents have assignees in second and third tier cities in Europe. However, in the Middle East and Africa, these percentages are much lower‚only 30 percent and 15 percent, respectively.

Companies do predict increasing transfer activity into these types of cities over the next two years. More than half of companies project a further increase of activity into these cities in Europe and 44 percent predict the same in the Middle East. Nearly 30 percent anticipate an increase of movement of assignees into these tier cities in Africa.

Because these communities frequently have less developed infrastructures than their first tier counterparts, moving employees into second and third tier cities can present challenges for organisations. The primary challenges cited by those moving their assignees into second and third tier cities in Europe are housing and children's schooling. Children's schooling also is the greatest challenge for all of those with experience in moving assignees to these cities in the Middle East. Africa, on the other hand, presents different challenges. All respondents whose companies have assignees in second and third tier cities in Africa agree that spouse employment, medical services, and security are the biggest challenges.

Improvements Needed to Meet Expatriate Needs
in Europe, Middle East, and Africa
Percent of Organisations

* Percentages do not total 100% because rounding

Trends in assistance offerings for short-term international assignees. More than half (55 percent) of companies with employees on short-term international assignments in Europe predict that the level of assistance provided for this type of assignee will increase over the next two years. However, only 44 percent of those with employees on short-term international assignments in the Middle East and just 29 percent with short-term assignees in Africa expect an increase in assistance.

Areas for improvement. Respondents perceive that improvements are most needed in the assistance provided for housing in the Middle East and Africa. For assignments in Europe, cross-cultural training is the assistance area most commonly cited as needing improvement.

Diverse Trends

Trends in activity are fairly diverse in the EMEA region. There appears to be more activity in Europe with increases expected to second and third tier cities. Challenges and requirements also vary between Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Interestingly, there does not appear to be any significant decreases in transfer volume expected in any of these areas over the next year.

Source: MOBILITY Magazine, January 2009