================================================= Expat Worlds Monthly Digest ================================================= December, 2003 Vol. 5, Issue 11 .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ==== THE STORY =================== (Compliment from the Expat World Newsletter) -=Changing Expatations=- ==== EW SPECIAL ================== -=PARTNER - RESELLER - AGENT=- ==== HUMOR, TRIVIA, NEWS AND MORE... == -=Trivia=- -=News Story=- -=Traveller's Tales=- -=Jokes=- ==== THE RESOURCE TIP ============= -=SPAM CONTROL with Frontgate MX=- ==== INSIDE THIS MONTH EXPAT WORLD == -=Table of Content=- ==== THE STORY ================================== CHANGING EXPATATIONS In today’s corporate world of greed the traditional expat, a middle-aged Anglo-Saxon male, with a non-working wife in tow, on a fabulously rich senior management package, plumped up with hardship, housing, car, food and relocation allowances as well as international school fees for their children, is becoming a dying breed. With companies opting for the lowest bidder in the labor force, the hardship allowance has become "a colonial relic", and expats "a sunset industry." Indeed, the party has ended for expensive expats. Many of the expats who can't function in the harsh new climate of economic rationalization and greater accountability have had to move downstream to the backwaters to places like Indonesia or Vietnam to continue their lifestyle. But even those expats know their days are numbered and are waiting by the phone for their repatriation call. Hewitt Associates, a global management consulting firm has noted a worldwide winding down of long-term overseas assignments. This trend began in the mid 1990's with expats falling further out of favor with the world’s new economic climate. Today, traditional expatriation - in which a corporate loyalist sets up an overseas operation and runs it for two to five years - has given way to cheaper options like short-term technical transfer assignments, increased business travel, telecommuting, video-conferencing and more reliance on local hires. Already, many multinational corporations such as IBM, UPS and Nestle, have vamped up their drives to staff top jobs with local homegrown, rather than imported, talent. This has helped lick the high cost of expatriation - not to mention the high failure rate in the new economic world faced by expat executives. Expats worldwide who still hold on to their jobs should expect compensation packages wrapped in far less frippery. The first things to go are usually the “luxuries” such as social, golf and sailing club memberships. For the best talent, companies will still pay well, but probably less on benefits and more on cash compensation. But still the trend today is towards localization. The expatriate's compensation is adjusted to reflect that of the locals. Also in vogue are localized transfers: The posted employee takes on a "permanent local" 'status, with no more housing or cost-of-living allowances. A 2001 poll of companies by a global consulting firm found that over half expatriates are no longer employed on special remuneration packages, but on the same terms as locals. Another 25 percent received some housing assistance and only about 20 percent enjoyed expat perks. To discourage a tourist work ethic, expat compensation is now in many cases based on “success sharing”, with incentives linked to concrete targets such as business achievement at the foreign location, transferring know-how, and grooming local successors. With more prudent packages, the non-working spouse languishing by the poolside has also become an endangered species today. Most companies now routinely pay recruiters to help find the trailing spouse a job in the host country. THE NEW EXPAT As conventional expatriation slides into the sunset, a globally mobile work force is taking its place. The difference is that movements are no longer “one way” or restricted to dispatches from the headquarters, but could be from one subsidiary to another, or wherever else talent is found. An example in EW’s local neighborhood, Singapore, almost half of the expatriates today hail from India, with China and Malaysia trailing close behind. Besides costing about half the price of American expats, Asian expats are better bets because they have been used to creaky infrastructure at home, and are hence probably better conditioned to the rough and tumble of business in Asia than Westerners would be, say relocation experts. The New Expat is also single, younger and here to fill a lower to middle rather than a senior executive position, and - more often than not - on a local package. Expats, yesterday's ruling class, have become today's cheap labor. They are a bargain where Singapore employers are concerned, because their fixed-term contracts do not entitle them to CPF (a type of Social Security plan) and bonuses. Many of the “new expats” worldwide come to seek opportunities on their own, bringing with them not only skills that the locals lack, but also the sheen of international exposure, trilling transatlantic accents and the hunger to work harder and longer hours. A considerable number come under less than good conditions for they are in dead end jobs at home. One lady from Canada who visited Singapore that EW knows stayed on here as an expat because all she could get in Canada were "no brainer" boutique salesgirl jobs or temp positions as the "token Asian in the White-dominated communications industry". She is thrilled whenever she receives letters from government agencies addressed to "Dear Foreign Talent", but knows hers will not be the jet-set life. Her budget has to stretch to include the rent for an unimposing 500 sq. ft. -walk-up apartment with a squat toilet. For the New Expat, kingly lifestyles and extrinsic rewards such as money are no longer the prime motivators. A recent study on global careers by business school INSEAD showed that most of these young executives in their 20s and 30s sought the global experience for its own sake - as a personal and professional challenge. Others, like an American IT expert EW talked to, wanted to experience the world's fastest growing markets (the Asian market) first-hand. Having previously lived in Germany, Italy, England and Latin America before he was posted to Singapore as Hewlett-Packard's marketing manager for its imaging and printing group two years ago, he wanted to add an Asian perspective to his portfolio. "Being able to demonstrate international experience is a big asset for anyone who wants to thrive in their career. These days, it has almost become a prerequisite for top management," he says. NOMADIC EXPATS Another trend that is taking root today is the rise of Nomadic Expats, who are equally comfortable in Madrid, Manila and Mumbai, and have gained so much international experience that they are more valuable working across different continents than going back to their home country. These nomads motivation seems to be to become part of a growing globally mobile class, seen as the wave of the future. One example is a British-born, Mandarin-speaking lady, in her 30s, who has spent 15 years all over Asia working in communications and human resource. She views herself with this movement of "global souls" who view themselves as neither "local" nor "expat", in the traditional sense of each word. She, like others like her, have grown up living in so many places that they don't have a strong sense of "home". In fact, the concept of repatriation either confuses them or fills them with horror! TYPES OF EXPATS • Traditional Expat -- Sent out to establish an overseas operation and run it for two to five years before returning home. Fast becoming extinct. Gets all the perks: Look-see trip, housing and utilities, shipping, annual home leave, relocation allowance, home pension scheme, tax equalization and school fees for children. • Short-term Assignees -- Usually young and single, they are dispatched on six to 12 month postings to facilitate a technical transfer. They are paid their home base salary, given accommodation and modest living expenses but no other benefits. • Fast-trackers -- Reserved for promising young executives in their late 20s to 30s who are sent out to gain international exposure as part of their career development. • Nomadic Expats -- Equally comfortable in Madrid or Mumbai, they have racked up so much international experience that they are more valuable working in different countries than back home. The notion of repatriation fills them with horror. • Localized Expats -- They like the host country so much or have forged emotional bonds so deep that they buy homes and settle down, frequently on "permanent local" terms. • Third-country Asian Expats This fast-growing group is usually posted to Asian countries to start or manage operations because of their cultural or linguistic affinity with the host country. Many also seek opportunities on their own to secure entry-level working experience. ==== EW SPECIAL ================================= PARTNER - RESELLER - AGENT EXPAT WORLD PARTNER PROGRAM With this program we are offering - Link Exchange - Advertising Exchange - Free Subscription for your members - Discounts for your members to publisher, website or list owners. EXPAT WORLD RESELLER PROGRAM With this program we are offering volume discount for a number of products and services. Order quantity will be accumulated from your first order onwards. EXPAT WORLD AGENT PROGRAM To be considered for the Expat World Agent program, an applicant must pay a one-time set-up fee. Email us at office@expatworld.net ==== HUMOR, TRIVIA, NEWS AND MORE... ================ Hitting The Fan by Chris P Bohn In the past people have occasionally accused me of talking shit. But nobody can say I'm not serious about my subject. In fact you could say I have a Masters degree in coprology! In recent months I have been busy writing a paper (toilet paper, obviously) entitled "What Really Happens When the Shit Hits the Fan ?". Clearly one needs to define one's terms and my approach was as scientific as it could be. Firstly I decide to confine my researches to three types of fan: i) Electric fans ii) Cricket and/or football fans (depending on which one is in season at the time) and iii) Hand held fans i.e. Of the kind which is fluttered by demure young ladies in period dramas Secondly there was a need to be able to grade various kinds of shit according to size, weight, malleability and viscosity. This required the use of expensive scientific instruments and so I equipped myself with - electronic scales, a pestle and mortar, an engineer's measure, a sieve, packet of rubber gloves shower cap and safety glasses (call me a fashion victim if you like. It's my choice.) I set up a standard desktop fan (this one had a safety grille which, although removable, I chose to leave on for the purposes of the experiment). I then ate six cans of a discount brand of baked beans and sat down to watch some old Boris Karloff movies. The horror films had the desired effect and within ten minutes I was shitting myself with fear (OK so I'm a scaredy cat too, so what?). Shortly thereafter I was busy gathering what we shall term "material" in readiness for experiment numero uno. The fan was switched onto its highest setting (moderate breeze or number one on the Beaufort scale for any budding meteorologists reading this). I rolled the first turd* and verified its weight as 200 grammes or about half a pound if you are still using NASA units of measurement. I then fired the missile from a distance of ten feet using a modified crossbow (patent pending) designed by yours truly (talented or what?). The "chocolate cannonball" hit the fan absolutely dead centre. Approximately twenty percent of its mass clung to the outside of the safety grille. Eighty percent reached the blades. And a staggering one hundred percent was flung off into the office where the tests were being conducted. I apologised to the executives in the immediate vicinity and retired for a shower. Following the first experiment, office based tests had to be put on hold for a temporary period. There were three main problems. Firstly it was proving very difficult to get funding for my experimental endeavours. Usually when you request financial support for work of the kind which I do, people think you are talking out of your arse. I suppose they are right in a way . . . Secondly there were some technical refinements to attend to; certain brands of beans result in missiles of far too watery a consistency. And thirdly there was an ongoing legal problem. Something to do with an office manager's dry cleaning bill and my reply that he had signed a waiver and had been given plenty of prior warning of all possible consequences. It annoys me. It really does. They all want free publicity in the local press but as soon as anything goes wrong they don't want to know you. That's science for you, I guess. My next experiment involved one of the popular nineteenth century style ladies fans. Always striving after authenticity (or authentishitty?) in all things, I cautiously approached the local amateur dramatics society which was happy to supply a victim. Sorry, that should be "volunteer". For health and hygiene reasons the volunteer wore a full face motorcycle helmet and bikers leathers. The fan she held was twenty centimetres in height and described an arc of sixty degrees when fully opened. It was held at an angle of ninety degrees to the ground and with the volunteer peeping demurely over the top just to make things more realistic. For this experiment I had conscientiously prepared five "missiles" in the comfort of my own home the previous evening. The first one was launched from twenty feet away. The results were better than I could ever have anticipated. The fan went flying , the motorcycle helmet's visor crack'd from side to side and the volunteer was left sprawled in a heap on the stage. After beating a hasty retreat I concluded that the missiles had probably been baked for too long (one can never be too sure when using electric ovens) thus resulting in devastating ballistic qualities. Although my theatre season ticket has now been revoked I am hoping for a reply from NATO with a view to providing member countries with a regular supply of "missiles" in the event of future global conflicts. I finally turned my attention to conducting tests with sports fans. Football fans might prove to be too much of a challenge, I decided. Dealing with irate office staff or theatre luvvies is one thing (actually it's two aren't they???) but being surrounded by lagered up soccer supporters could be a little less pleasant. Besides, if I timed it right I reckoned I could get a trip to the Caribbean out of it. So, cricket fans it would be . . . Footnote: The experiment went as well as could be expected, bearing in mind how well all the previous ones had gone. I am writing this from a hospital bed in what the local police have advised me must remain an undisclosed location in the West Indies. I hope to be sufficiently recovered to be able to return home in a few weeks time. As for the results of my third and final experiment . . . The missiles had to be fired very discreetly in order to avoid any repeat of previous problems. So I launched them from my seat in the cricket ground and watched to see what would happen. The batsman hit the first one and immediately on impact it disintegrated into mere dust. I suppose he must have thought he had hit a six because he started to run for the opposite wicket. However, this was when the other team's fast bowler was just coming out. He seized his chance with both hands and promptly bowled the errant batsman out. The crowd went wild. . . And as it turns out, turds ain't half as hard as cricket bats!!! * Please note: this is not an officially recognised SI unit. ----- NEWS STORY When Larry Eastep couldn't go to Terlingua, Texas, to compete in a chili cook-off, his brother, Don, 64, went instead. Don wasn't a chili chef, but he enjoyed the event anyway. As he went around from booth to booth to sample the various entries, he put a spoonful of each cook's effort into a pot and, at the end, submitted the mix as his entry in the competition. He won. Eastep was too stunned to protest. "I was afraid if I would have said something at the time, a Texas lynch mob would have come after me," he said later. Other cooks protested, since they didn't see Eastep cooking, so he quickly 'fessed up and turned the trophy over to the runner-up. Judge Tom Nall called Eastep a "rotten, no-good scoundrel" who is banned from future competitions. (Washington Post) ----- TRAVELLER'S TALES FUNDAMENTAL ERROR: A woman received a letter from an electoral commission naming her as "Fat Ass." The communication asked Kylene Soar of New Zealand to confirm that she was Kylene Fat Ass for purposes of updating the electoral roll. She complained. Electoral officials said skullduggery was afoot and a 23-year-old woman was later arrested in connection with the case, the Daily News reported. Soar admitted to local reporters that her weight was a touchy issue. ----- 640K ought to be enough for anybody." -- Bill Gates, 1981 - "It's so long since I've had sex I've forgotten who ties up who." -- Joan Rivers. ----- Oxymoron: Tax Return ----- ==== THE RESOURCE TIP ============================ SPAM CONTROL with Frontgate MX Frontgate MX is a program that was developed to stop junk email from reaching your computer. It brings power and control over what is and what isn't allowed into your inbox. 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Go to ==== INSIDE THIS MONTH EXPAT WORLD =============== EXPAT WORLD NEWSLETTER (VOL.15 ISSUE 10) Table of Content: - CHANGING EXPATATIONS - IT PAYS TO SHOP AROUND - THE GOVERNMENT TRYING TO TURN THE US OF A INTO A NATION OF SNITCHES - SHANGHAI MAY RECLAIM TITLE “WHORE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD” - (DATELINE BRITAIN) BUSH IS STUPID! - AROUND THE WORLD WITH EXPAT WORLD - LETTER FROM AMERICA - PRIVACY MATTERS WORLDWIDE - BANKS SET TO INVADE YOUR PRIVACY - SPIES ATTACK WHITE HOUSE SECURITY - WAYS TO GET INTO THE UNITED STATES - SO WHY GO OFFSHORE? - DON’T TAKE THE BAIT! - INTERNATIONAL SNIPS AND CLIPS - THE BIG BROTHER STATE OF AMERICA - CRAPPER RAPPER - TIMES HAVE CHANGED - THE SHIPWRECK - RUE BUT EMBARRASSING STORIES YOU MISSING SO MUCH Each week the EXPAT WORLD DIGEST gives you just a smattering of what you can find in the EXPAT WORLD newsletter that we produce once a month. Why not get the whole story and subscribe now to our electronic version for just US $30 per year. 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