Expat Jobs: Some Industries Hiring, Some Industries Firing

Hi Everyone, Brookfield Global Relocation Services released today a supplementary report to their widely-recognised 2009 Global Relocation Trends Survey. Here are some extracts from their press release:

"Woodridge, Ill. (Sept. 14, 2009) - The ongoing economic downturn has forced many companies to dramatically scale back the number of employees they are relocating for international assignments, but has left other industries virtually unscathed, a new report exploring international mobility trends from Brookfield Global Relocation Services has found.

In fact, certain industries - among them telecommunications, oil and gas - are experiencing an uptick in their employee relocation activities due to mergers, emerging global markets and other factors, according to a recently released report, International Mobility: The Impact of the Current Economic Climate.

The report queried senior international mobility professionals responsible for international assignment strategy at a number of the world's leading companies. Combined, the mobility managers interviewed from a select group of corporations representing a worldwide employee population of more than 2.2 million employees."

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"The report's findings pointed to four key trends currently facing multinational companies:

1. A reduction in the volume of assignments due to the recession. This is occurring in industries that have been hit especially hard by the economic downturn, including: automobile manufacturing, information technology service and the financial services sectors.
2. Changes in the volume of assignments. However, these changes are not directly caused by the recession. This trend is impacting the high technology, engineering, retail, financial and information services industries.
3. No impact so far, but companies expect a general tightening soon. These industries include pharmaceutical, food and consumer products manufacturing, and logistics sectors.
4. An increase in the number of employee relocations. This trend is primarily occurring in the telecommunications, oil and gas sectors, and with some professional services firms.

"...companies and industries that are experiencing increased relocation activity are typically involved in:

1. Moving into new international partnership arrangements;
2. A merger or acquisition Developing emerging markets;
3. Creating global tools, processes and programs;
4. Creating a cohesive culture or employer brand; and/or
5. Closing long-term global capability and skills gaps."
   

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"Brookfield will host a complimentary webinar presentation exploring the findings of this study on Thursday, Sept. 17 (US). Participation in the webinar is free and limited to the first 100 registrants. To register, go to: http://www.brookfieldgrs.com/insights_ideas/grts/2009_GRTS_Economic_Climate_Webinar.asp"