We discussed how family challenges and marital issues significantly impact the outcome of international assignments. We also saw that many companies list the Expat Spouse’s unhappiness as the primary cause of “Expatriate Failure,” highlighting the importance of the Expat Spouse and Partner career support programs.  We will discuss more extensively the kind of support you can give Dual-Career Expat Couples and why that matters. I have always advocated for Global Mobility Managers to involve Expat Spouses proactively. Sometimes I sound like a broken record, though. I reiterate what I’ve been repeating for years. The days of the passive “trailing spouse,” when they were marginally involved in any decision to move abroad, are gone. Most expats (mobile employees) actively involve their […]

Prevent Family Separation in Global Mobility Stop me if you have heard this before. Still, the general belief among people seems to be that separation rates among expatriates are higher than those among native (aka stay-at-home) professionals. I want to point out that this is not the case. The reality is that this idea comes from the fact that the impacts of family separations are much more significant. Consider the difficulty of handling separation and potential custody disputes through geographical boundaries. Discussion among multinational Global Mobility circles is centering on the issue of Dual-Career Expat Couples.  Why You Need To Care About This You may be wondering how their relationships and related problems impact businesses. The answer is simple:  People […]