RESULTS SURVEY N°9 : EXPATS, HOW ARE THINGS GOING?

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How are the expatriates feeling?

With this ninth survey, the Expat Communication barometer ends a year of study dedicated to expatriation and focuses towards the impact of the pandemic.

Many of you participated over the year and more than 600 of you answered this last question:

"Expatriates, how are you feeling today?"

For almost two years now, the pandemic has been a daily feature of expatriate life.

After a mid-year decrease in restrictions and a return to travel, with the reopening of many countries borders across the world enventually led to a question: How does the general mood, mindset of expatriates evolved compared to the same survey conducted in February 2021? Well, you have given us the answer. You are feeling “more serene than last year”, combined with “good but resigned and weary” because of the constraints which remained in vigor or are still on the rise again, depending on the areas of the world, at this very end stage of the year.

Lassitude and serenity coexist among the expatriates.

The level of overall feeling is 65 on a scale of 1 to 100. This is still a reasonable level given the situation, even if it is not a clear improvement compared to February when the indicator was at 61.

The difference between employees and spouses is once again very clear.

Those who are working abroad or are the ones who have taken the initiative, i.e. employees (men and women), therefore, rate their morale at a higher level than the average and especially higher than that of their spouses:68 versus 61.

Being in business and in control of the expatriation seems to have a positive effect on morale: The spouse remains more ‘concerned’ and “tired of the restrictions of covid” which make daily life « moins attractif en expatriation » et entravent à nouveau “less attractive in expatriation” and impede again “the prospects of travelling”. The appearance of a new variant at the end of the month of November accentuates this phenomenon.

A geographical distribution of the overall feeling supports this trend.

The disparities between the continents highlighted in February are no longer relevant. The level of morale is more or less the same across the globe, with the exception of Oceania, where the level is the lowest (53 out of 100).

The countries that were the first to implement border restrictions or border closures in November are also more affected and expatriates express “expatriation weariness” in these conditions.

The expatriates have resigned themselves to the pandemic situation. They have no choice to cope with it and adjust. The core nature of the discomfort comes from the generalization to all continents and expatriates.

“Living from day to day” and “except for the concerns about Covid and the uncertainties that come with it, it’s going good”. These verbatims further confirm the resilience that expatriates show. Not knowing whether travel will be possible and living in uncertainty reinforce the sense of isolation expressed by many expatriates. “Seeing your family again for the holidays” seems like a new challenge or a journey fraught with difficulties, depending on the situations.

Towards a decrease in telework?

The February survey showed that a better feeling was reported by those who alternated between the office and work at home.

Teleworking seems to have its limits with “managing jet lag “ for those who have not returned to their original expatriation country or those who have chosen thanks to their own activity to move to a new country of their choice.

The state of mind of those who split their time between the office and home is better than that of those who are 100% teleworking. The latter is tending to decline. In November, 25% of expatriates were teleworking compared to 55% in February. A clear declining trend.

“There are fewer possible social encounters when teleworking”, “expatriation life has lost a lot of animation, encounters, etc.”. These comments reveal a loss of the very essence of expatriation.

It is clear that, like everyone else, the expatriates say they are serene since they are resigned but also tired of this pandemic situation. The level of trust in the future has hardly improved since February.

Employees rate the negative impact of the health situation on their working conditions at 46/100. 21% are confident that their working conditions will improve in working conditions in 6 months’ time, compared to 38% who remain little or not confident about the future.

Furthermore, although 50% of expatriates are concerned about future changes in the overall health situation, overall, confidence in the future has remained stable since February.

Let’s hope that the situation will only improve and let’s keep an eye on the evolutions that this pandemic is producing on the organisation of work and family balance.

What future for tomorrow?

I am“worried about the future of the planet after covid19” according to expatriates. New challenges await expatriation. The year 2022 will be the opportunity to measure them with your help to ensure that this adventure of expatriation, which is in full mutation, remains a fulfilling experience.

Companies and the labour market are adapting to this volatile context. As expatriates, you are in the best position to express your expectations, your doubts and share the benefits of your expatriation.

As for us, we will be there for you throughout your expatriation and your stories are our driving force for us: “The well-being of the expatriate and his family are no longer taken into account in expatriation.” .

Thank you to all of you. Thank you for your loyalty and your participation. The Expat Communication Barometer will be reporting to you very soon. More information to come in early 2022 to subscribe to the barometer panel and be kept informed of the survey’s release: here.

The detailed results of this survey are reserved forthe members of the Expat Communication Barometer Board.

If you wish to participate in our surveys, have access to the infographics and results, or join the barometer board, contact us or click here.

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The questionnaires are available in French or English. This link is accessible from your computer, tablet or phone.

Duration of the questionnaire: about 5 min

Your answers are treated confidentially, and if you wish to receive the results directly and answer our future surveys, you will be redirected at the end of the questionnaire to a second link to guarantee the anonymity of your answers to our survey.

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