The number of workers taking on global assignments is set to increase by 50% over the next 10 years, as companies "re-think where their talent needs to be based to fulfil their growth ambitions", PwC said, yet it is already clear that where these jobs will be may not match the overseas dreams of those willing to take an overseas assignment.
For example, while more than two-thirds of graduates say they would like an overseas assignment during their career, "only 11% are willing to work in India, and only 2% in mainland China," the PwC researchers found.
Instead, the US, UK and Australia are "firmly at the top" of the overseas-posting wish list of new graduates, who make up what PwC calls the "millennial generation", more than two-thirds of which say that they "want an overseas assignment during their career".
Indeed, its report – Talent Mobility: 2020 and beyond , which is based on data its researchers gathered from more than 900 globally-active companies – found that 15% of organisations surveyed say that they are already unable to achieve growth forecasts in overseas markets, "due to talent constraints".
"This has led to nearly two-thirds (64%) changing their approach to global mobility," PwC said, in a summary of the findings of its research.
In order to respond to skills shortages, changing business needs and employee preferences, "companies will need to offer new forms of global mobility" to their employees, PwC said.
Other key findings:
- The number of women taking on global assignments is expected to increase, with women predicted to account for more than a quarter of all assignees by 2020
- The traditional flow of talent from West to East will be reversed
- Even now, only 1% of people are currently doing traditional assignments that involve three years in a different country, followed by a return home
- The average length of an overseas posting has dropped to 18 months, while the number of mobile workers, including long-distance commuters (who spend a week or two at a time in another country), has increased, and now accounts for around 8% of the working population
Carol Stubbings, UK international assignment services leader at PwC, said a growing number of companies are having to face up to the reality that their talent is in the wrong places for fulfilling their global growth ambitions, and the fact that they will need to increase the global mobility opportunities they offer their staff – with an eye on what the marketplace increasingly needs.
“The era where assignments meant a three- or four-year relocation is coming to an end," she said.
"New forms of global mobility are developing in response to business demands and employee preferences, many of which don’t involve relocation at all. Long-distance commuting, virtual mobility, project-based and assignee-led projects are all set to become the norm.
"These will offer greater flexibility for both employers and employees and should help to reduce global mobility costs.”
To read more about PwC’s report and its findings on the PwC website, click here.
