Global Mobility Guide | How best to support partners on assignment?

Many expatriates are accompanied by their partner and children when they go on an international assignment. ECA’s Managing Mobility survey identified that the top three key concerns of candidates when considering an expatriate assignment were family-related, with the partner’s career/income being the second most important issue. For many families whether the partner can or will work whilst overseas, or what they will dootherwise, is critical to the family decisionto take an assignment.

This matters for organisations because attracting individuals to go on expatriate assignments isn’t always easy. 74% of respondents to the survey reported they often or sometimes have difficulty attracting candidates with the right skills and experience. Addressing issues relating to the partner’s career potentially increases the candidate pool for assignments.

Challenges facing expatriate partners who want to work
For many partners getting a job in the new country would be ideal. There are, however, essential challenges to be overcome first:

• Can the partner get a work visa or work permit? Do they need a potential employer to apply for the work permit on their behalf?
  
  
• Do they speak the language, or can they learn enough to be employable?
  
  
• Are qualifications recognised automatically, recognised but through an accreditation process, or not at all?

ECA’s Country Profiles provide information on work permit availability for partners. It is important to note some countries make a distinction between a married partner and an unmarried partner for the purpose of work permit availability, limiting availability to married partners only.