Commercial PropertyGMAC Global Relocation Survey Shows Changing Attitudes
Owned by GM Corporation, GMAC Global Relocation Services reaches more than 110 countries. Along with SHRM (Society For Human Resource Management) Global Forum and the National Foreign Trade Council, GMAC Global Relocation Services has produced a 10-year summary report entitled "Ten Years of Global Relocation Trends: 1993-2004.
The firms have issued reports for ten years, expanding questions to survey participants as demographics and conditions for expatriates have become more complex:
The percentage of female expatriates has risen from 10 percent to 18 percent over the years, while married males have declined slightly from 64 percent in 1993 to 55 percent in 2003.
A sharp upward spike in single male expatriates occurred in 2003, possibly due to increased concerns about safety and cost because of terrorist threats. Concurrently, a sharp drop was noted in the number of expatriates who brought children along during assignments this past year, especially during short-term assignments.
China is emerging as the top destination for expatriate activity, followed by India, Mexico, Brazil and the United Kingdom. China also presents the greatest challenges to expatriates, followed by India, Japan, Russia, Brazil and Indonesia. The U.K. and U.S.A. remain the most active destinations, followed by China and Hong Kong.
Since 1995, "trailing" spouses have received the benefit of more education and training assistance by companies, while companies have cut back in provisions for networking, volunteering assistance, job-finding fees, reimbursement for career enhancement and career planning, say respondents.
Assignments of a year or more in length are declining, from 49 percent in 1997-8 to 11 percent in 2003.
Smaller companies are competing in the international marketplace, eroding dominance from larger companies. The result is more companies with a small expatriate population are participating in the survey.
More companies in the high technology; services, publishing, advertising, hospitality, entertainment; and pharmaceuticals, medical diagnostics and healthcare industries are participating in the survey. Declining participation was noted in the finance, insurance and real estate; chemicals and agriculture; energy, utilities, and mining; construction and engineering; and transportation industries.
Before 1999, the expatriate population has risen in comparison to its size in the previous year. Since then, fewer respondents have reported expatriate population growth.
Companies report more resistance to expatriate assignments, due to concerns over spouse careers and children"s education, and other family-related issues.