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What do we learn from expatriation?
Press release from our partner Expat Communication (June 2024)
Expat Communication, an expert in intercultural and international mobility support, unveils the results of the second survey of its 2024 Barometer, conducted online with 2,428 expatriates from April 15 to May 10, 2024.
For its tenth anniversary, Expat Communication's barometer offers, through four surveys, a comprehensive overview of expatriation, aiming to understand its different aspects and analyze the new dynamics of international mobility.
This second survey particularly explores the question of learning during expatriation: How does the perspective on the home country change? How do expatriates acquire new skills? How does their way of working evolve?
Some key insights are provided below.
As with every survey, we start with a look at the morale of expatriates.
The morale level of the panel, surveyed quarterly, stabilizes at 71% in April 2024, showing, as in previous periods, a slight gap between men and women: 73% and 68%, respectively.
The study also measures morale according to different expatriation statuses:
- Retirees lead with a morale of 73%
- Spouses and adventurers do not exceed 67%
The April 2024 survey further reveals the impact of returning from expatriation on morale, which drops to 64% for returnees or those in transit.
For reference, the results from February had already highlighted the impact of the absence of professional activity on morale. When combining the effects of return and active job searching, the morale level drops to 46%.\
Expatriation has a lasting impact on one's perception of the world, primarily influencing their relationships with others.
Even though exposure to different cultures is greatly facilitated, especially through social networks, expatriation provides the most profound experience of encountering others and questioning one's own model. As evidenced by the latest survey data, the relationship with others is by far the area where one learns the most while living abroad (71%), followed by the relationship with work and time.
The relationship with health/medicine is also questioned by the expatriate experience (32%). This reflects the strong healthcare culture in France and the real shock experienced by expatriates when confronted with other healthcare cultures, which often have a much more commercial approach and are far less universal than that of France.
The perception of the French healthcare system significantly improves when living abroad. As for consultation habits, they don't vary much in terms of frequency but rather in the type of care/medicine sought.
42% of respondents and 55% of spouses have undergone training while living abroad, but with different goals. Respondents prioritize training to advance their expertise, while spouses focus on learning the local language. Spouses are also twice as likely as respondents to pursue training in teaching/FLE and coaching.
The diploma culture remains prominent, with diploma recognition being the primary criterion for selecting a course of study abroad.
Language learning is also a significant benefit of expatriation. The proportion of respondents who do not speak the local language at all decreases by two-thirds due to their expatriate stay, and the number of bilingual expatriates triples. As mentioned earlier, language training is the primary form of training for spouses and the second for the entire panel.
Finally, only 29% of the training is conducted online, a decrease from 33% in 2021.
The challenges for expatriate employees primarily involve managing work-life balance and building trust.
A previous study by the Barometer had shown an increase in mental workload for expatriate employees, reflected in the difficulties they face: over a third struggle to balance work and personal life. "Building trust" in the professional environment is also highlighted as a major challenge for expatriate workers.
Conducted by Expat Communication, in partnership with April International, Banque de France, Carrefour, la Caisse des Français de l’Etranger, and Globeducate.