Expats around the globe work longer hours abroad than at home and women expats have higher work-related stress levels than men, according to a recent survey.
Here are some of the main findings from the survey, which was sponsored by Industrial Relations Counselors, Inc. and recommended by RNW partner, Expatica.com:
Expatriates work longer hours abroad than at home
When it comes to working in a foreign location, survey results show a clear divergence between company policy on work hours and actual practice. Although it was usual to have a stated hours-of-work policy, nearly two-thirds of the expatriates surveyed work longer hours abroad than they did at home.
Expatriates worked on average an increase of 13.4 hours per week. Survey respondents cited several contributing factors, such as the volume of work, lack of local support, cost pressures to perform well and, in particular, business travel.
International assignments disrupt family life, causing dissatisfaction among spouses and children
International assignments clearly intrude into family life. Expatriates' families voiced dissatisfaction with assignees' travel schedules, long hours at work, and the limited support given to families during periods of separation.
Nearly five percent reported that their families returned home earlier than anticipated, and of that number, 30 percent cited the work and travel schedules of the expatriate as the reason.
Overall, companies have weak work-life balance policies
Work-life balance initiatives were not, on the whole, available to - or taken up by -expatriates. Only 21 percent say that their organisations had either a formal or an informal policy on work-life balance.
Three-quarters of those surveyed believe that their organisation was not committed to helping expatriates achieve a healthy balance between work and home. Some flexible working practices were available to expatriates. For example, 44 percent reported having the option of working flexible hours or taking compensatory time off for working long hours; however, two-thirds believe their organisations expect them to work outside of normal hours. Over half (55 percent) did not take all of their annual leave entitlement.
Cultural and language differences create specific stress issues for expatriates
The expatriates in this survey were experienced in terms of the number of years they had spent on international assignments, the number of locations in which they had worked, and the lengths of their current assignments. Yet, having to cope with language and cultural difficulties resulted in major pressures causing stress.
Despite the majority of respondents reporting being offered language training and half reporting being offered cultural training, significant proportions of expatriates did not complete their training. For some this was due to time pressures and travel schedules, but for a significant majority this was due to lack of interest on their part.
On the whole, expatriates realised that they had a role to play in managing their own stress and recognised that their employers could not be expected to take full responsibility. Nevertheless, survey respondents offered suggestions for how their employers could help to reduce stress. These ideas included introducing counselling services and demonstrating a greater understanding of the pressures that working abroad entails.
Female expatriates have higher levels of work-related stress than their male counterparts.
Despite survey data showing that women's average workweek increased 13 hours while on assignment, only 50 percent felt overworked and 54 percent felt overwhelmed. However, over half of the women (54 percent) did take their full vacation entitlement.
Family separation appeared to be less of an issue for women expatriates: only ten percent reported that their families returned home as a result of their work or travel commitments and only three percent reported a permanent, early return of their families. Yet, female expatriates reported higher levels of work-related stress than their male counterparts in the domestic workplace and as expatriates.
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To investigate the work-life balance of expatriates, Industrial Relations Counselors, Inc. sponsored a survey on expatriate work-life balance which was conducted by ORC Worldwide during late 2006/early 2007.
Plus, for the first time, the survey sought responses from expatriates themselves, and not corporate human resources (HR) departments.
The survey ranked as number one in the Expatica HR 2007/2008 Top 5 Industry Survey Awards, scoring highly as a ‘hot topic and a topic of interest to HR professionals as well as for readability and quality of data.
Tags: Expatica, Expats, survey, work-life balance