This article is taken from the Autumn 2024 issue of

Think Global People magazine

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Over the past several decades globalisation has moved forward at a significant pace. With it has come the international movement of labour to fill skills shortages and provide a talented workforce for global employers to engage. Today though, the geopolitical landscape appears uncertain. National governments are concerned with immigration statistics and the effect of this on their popularity with voters in the domestic labour force.

The geopolitical context

There are several contrasting arguments for employing foreign labour. On the one hand, bringing talented and skilled people into the receiving country helps to promote growth and economic success. On the other hand, it can be argued that employing individuals from abroad reduces the employment opportunities for the domestic labour force.Of course, this last argument only really holds true if there are skilled and capable individuals available for work in a local labour force who are denied work opportunities as a result of the direct employment of foreign nationals. More typically, either the country does not possess the skills and capabilities needed by employers, or these skilled individuals are unable to move to where job opportunities are available.There is, of course, a strong argument for training and developing local people with skills needed by employers today and to develop skills that will be needed in the future. The reality is that short-term pressures on organisations’ economic success can limit their ability to develop people locally. As a result, many employers have to rely on transferring skilled labour internationally in order to meet their current needs.Immigration caps, salary thresholds and other obstacles all therefore have to be navigated by global companies if they are to move employees around their international operations to develop future leaders and fill current skills shortages. This situation affects not only the transfer of labour directly employed by global organisations, but also has implications for accompanying partners and family members who wish to work.

The reality for dual-career couples

Individuals make career decisions based on immigration policy; the attractiveness of taking up employment in a different country is linked to work visa rules. Today, both partners in a couple typically work. An international assignment is not particularly attractive when one member of the couple is able to pursue their career and income opportunities while the other is unable to.Undertaking an international assignment can be a lonely and difficult experience for non-working partners. Their career is on hold and they have no income-earning potential. There might be volunteering opportunities in some countries where work visas are not permitted for accompanying partners. However, these may not necessarily provide career growth and certainly will not offer income potential. In some jurisdictions, non-working partners are not even allowed to undertake volunteering work. In such cases, this can result in them having a lengthy period of time abroad supporting their partner emotionally, but with no opportunity for self-development and self-fulfilment.Periods of unemployment also have implications for pension provision later on in life. Being unable to work affects individuals’ personal ambitions – for example, their ability to buy property and have children – and in turn this has an impact on family life and stability. In some countries, partners are not recognised. Only married couples are able to live in the country for the period of the assignment. Same-sex couples can also face a lack of recognition and potentially harassment and discrimination.It might seem that over the years little has changed and dual careers still present a major barrier to global mobility. In fact, progress has been made. An increasing number of countries recognise the benefits of dual-career couples being able to work and enable accompanying partners to take up employment. This may be possible using the visa status of the employed individual being moved by their international firm, or a dual-career partner applying for visas in their own right.Nonetheless, there are hurdles for couples to overcome in many jurisdictions and gaining employment status is not necessarily straightforward. Lobbying organisations, such as Permits Foundation, have made a difference in effecting change in visa regimes in countries across the world, but there is still much work to be done.

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Assignment type and policy implications

A factor that strongly affects dual-career couples is the nature of the assignment. Traditional long-term assignments are giving way to flexible forms of mobility, such as the increasing use of short-term and commuter assignments, as well as a greater focus on permanent transfers. These alternative assignment types typically have less employer support in terms of allowances and benefits. This means that dual-career couples need to find ways of supporting their income levels.For short-term and commuter assignments, unaccompanied mobility typically results in the dual-career partner remaining in the home country and continuing their employment there. However, this creates family separation, which is a source of stress and anxiety, and means the employee being moved by their company lacks family support in the host location. Permanent transfers are typically on local terms. This means there is increasing pressure for the accompanying partner to gain employment quickly to maintain income levels.Research into dual-career families has tended to focus on traditional expatriates – married couples. Increasingly, the profile of the expatriate workforce is changing and a larger percentage of unmarried and/or same-sex couples are seeking global mobility opportunities.Employers are hampered by a lack of research into how organisations can best manage these different family profiles. Typically, employers do not keep data on the profile of their expatriate workforce other than by gender. Indeed, both academic and practitioner research demonstrates a lack of information on how employers tailor assignment policy by sexual orientation, disability and family circumstances. Lack of information is clearly unhelpful to widening diversity and inclusion.

Strategies adopted by dual-career couples

Academic research indicates that couples do adopt different strategies to navigate their dual careers. Career coordination can be practised. This is where each member of the couple working for different employers negotiates individual assignments in the same location. Of course, this is governed by the nature of their employment and where their employers have operations. Another strategy is remote work; one member of the couple works locally and the accompanying partner continues to work for their employer, but on a remote basis. This has compliance implications and success depends on the nature of the work and the employer’s policies.A further strategy concerns taking turns. Members of a dual-career couple take turns to work and manage family life, but this has loss of income and career implications and is not ideal. Co-working couples – where both partners work for the same employer – might be able to negotiate an assignment where both are employed locally by their employer. However, rarely are there two international roles available at the same time and in the same place. Even if there are, potentially one of the partners has to compromise on their career position to take up local employment with their working partner.

Future action

We need more data on the issues that affect family decisions to accept international assignments and the factors that cause difficulty – resulting in poor performance or assignment failure – if we are to widen and diversify the talent pool from which employers can draw skilled labour. For example, even when couples do undertake an international assignment together, almost half of organisations report that assignments are cut short due to dual-career issues.The cost of a failed assignment is difficult, not only in terms of the cost to the employer in relation to the relocation package, but also in terms of damage to local relationships and the impact and effect on the employees themselves. It is crucial to invest in dual-career support as statistics indicate that over 70% of all failed moves are linked to issues to do with the partner. Employers simply cannot afford not to invest in supporting dual-career couples.The younger generation in particular expects that both partners will be able to work. Their choice of employer and employment location will depend on this. Arguments must continue to be made in favour of supporting talent flows to improve the economic circumstances of receiving host countries. Employers also need to ensure they lobby effectively for this and support their workforces effectively through appropriate policy provision that encourages diversity and inclusion.

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Read about award-winning global mobility, leadership and education in the Summer issue of Think Global People magazine, with the teams and organisations being celebrated in the Relocate Think Global People Awards 2024. Read here.

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