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Bradley Dewey understands how his fellow Americans back home were shaken up by the Sept. 11 attacks and their aftermath. But the managing director of European operations for Christian & Timbers, the Cleveland-based executive recruiter, says that he and other expatriate executives and managers he knows appear to have taken the world-changing experience a bit more in stride.
"We've lived with terrorism for a long time over here," says the 57-year-old Mr. Dewey. He has lived in Europe for 25 years, most recently commuting between his home in Geneva and his company's office in London. "If it's not the [Irish Republican Army], it's the Basques or the Red Army faction. As far as day-to-day life goes, we're all concerned as hell. But even with all the security precautions that people might take, not a lot has really changed."
Of course, the notion of enjoying professional life abroad while working for a U.S.-based company has taken a big hit this year. First, the weakening economy prompted many corporations to limit expatriation activity to cut costs. And since Sept. 11, many transnational companies have slapped new travel restrictions and other security measures on jittery expatriates. General Motors Corp., for example, moved a number of its expatriates out of Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Israel to Germany shortly after the attacks, while keeping its American workers on the job in Egypt.
Overall, American-company executives, international human-resources experts and expatriates themselves say the attacks and the U.S. military response so far haven't made new international assignments less desirable or discouraged expatriates. Less certain, of course, is the potential long-term impact of the slowing world economy as companies grow more cautious, and as capital markets wait for a turnaround in financial markets.
Little Immediate Impact
An October survey of human-resources executives at more than 60 large U.S.-based companies by KPMG finds little immediate impact. Only about 10% of companies surveyed say that more than half of their employees in high-risk countries had expressed concern. The number of expatriates overall who had requested short-term removal or repatriation is only 4%. And only 18% of companies that replied had "delayed the start of high-risk assignments" to other countries, including the Middle East, even though "that's the easiest (response) to do," says Timothy Dwyer, national director of international human-resources consulting for KPMG, the New York City-based firm.
Typical is the reaction of ADP Inc., the Clifton, N.J.-based company that handles corporate payrolls and other support services. "We cut back travel everywhere for two weeks, but now travel [by American expatriates] is continuing as normal except to the Middle East," says Karen Beaman, vice president of international affairs for the company's professional-services division, which has a couple dozen executives abroad. The company is advising expatriates to stay away from obvious potential targets, such as American embassies, and to be more careful about speaking English loudly in public. But at a recent Amsterdam conference of overseas human-resources executives for American companies, "no one said Sept. 11 changed much for them," she reports.
These days, Americans quickly have become "anxious about flying from St. Louis to Seattle, so now flying from St. Louis to Rome for an expatriate assignment maybe doesn't look like such a bad idea," says Tom Casey, a Boston-based partner in the Unifi Network, a human-capital-strategy division of consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. But expatriates "are used to it." And KPMG's Mr. Dwyer says that while "a majority of expatriates, even in high-risk locations, are taking a bit of a wait-and-see attitude, we're not seeing panic or other immediate reactions." While many large U.S.-based firms have reduced global travel, the most common response since the attacks, only 2% have cut travel in the U.S., his recent survey found.
Feeling Safer Abroad
Jennifer Cohan, in fact, flew back to New York City in mid-September from her assignment in London just to check on family and friends who had been upset -- although not directly affected -- by the attacks. A few days later, she went back to her job as director of the corporate group in the U.K. for Cohn & Wolfe, a New York City-based public-relations firm, feeling safer abroad than the people she left behind felt at home.
"We're a little bit more on alert, and we've taken some extra security measures, sure," says Ms. Cohan, who is stationed in London for two years and the only American in an office of 115 people. "I'm following developments at home a lot more closely. But if I were offered the same assignment right now, I'd still gladly take it."
Cutting Back
Employees considering expatriate careers should keep in mind that even before Sept. 11, U.S. companies were cutting back on expatriate activity. It's expensive to locate an employee abroad, especially with extra payments to cover the cost of living, host company taxation, schooling and other allowances.
"You're paying for a lot of extra solutions to maintain them whole in that environment," says Scott Craighead, senior vice president of relocation services for MonsterMoving.com, a division of White Plains, N.Y.- based Monster.com that maintains a Web site offering corporate-relocation information. "Some companies were looking to bring back expatriates or sending expatriates on a 'single' assignment, as opposed to sending their spouses and family members as well."
At the same time, American companies have been trying harder to recruit, train and retain foreign nationals to handle overseas jobs. Local employees "understand the marketplace better," says Mr. Craighead. "CEOs don't want to find themselves sitting in Europe at a table, asking about what's going on in Europe, surrounded by American expatriates," adds Mr. Casey. ADP's Ms. Beaman says that while the company "still believes very strongly in expatriate programs, they should be for the right reasons" such as grooming a manager or providing the expertise to train and develop local talent. "But the time of 10- to 15-year foreign assignments appears to be over," she says, mainly due to cost concerns.
Nevertheless, as American companies continue to globalize, and as an overseas position looks better and better on a resume in a shrinking business world, expatriation retains much of its basic appeal. Mr. Dewey of Christian & Timbers notes that "there has been a strong pickup in recruiting of very senior" American executives by U.S. technology companies to take advantage of opportunities in stronger European economies.
Still, some experts caution that expatriation is never for everybody. "People go overseas for different reasons, like getting away in the case of a divorce or some other personal event, but those aren't the people we try to recruit," says John Lonsberg, an American who is a St. Louis-based partner of Bryan Cave, an international law firm and a highly traveled expatriate himself. "We want people who are younger, who want to work with senior people and want client responsibility, and want to learn the business."
A Shifting Scene
In fact, just as tighter security in the wake of Sept. 11 is creating thousands of new jobs at U.S. airports, the shifting scene is generating intensified interests in expatriates with particular skills. Mr. Lonsberg, for instance, envisions "looking for people who speak Farsi" as the government of Iran responds ever so slightly toward American overtures to join the international alliance against terrorist organizations. And more companies have been turning to early-retirees willing to take a short-term overseas assignment, says Andrew Schultz, president of Pro Unlimited, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based company that specializes in providing such expatriates on a leased basis. But he expects that due to increased safety concerns, "it's going to take more" in pay and bonuses to fill such assignments.
For expatriate assignments now, more companies may favor unattached employees over those with families, or require that employees leave kin behind, especially for short-term assignments, consultants and other experts say. That's because adjusting to changing times is more complicated for expatriates with spouses and children.
Potential expatriates also need to understand that the world is changing in ways that may outstrip the experience, savvy and capacity of even the most grizzled international veterans of the most resourceful American corporations. During the civil unrest three years ago in Indonesia, many U.S. companies were relying on telephone chains among their expatriates for quick communication of the changing circumstances. But then the telephone system went down, leaving many expatriates isolated. Even the best emergency plans "get very iffy in crisis situations," observes KPMG's Mr. Dwyer.
--Mr. Buss is a journalist and editorial consultant based in Rochester Hills, Mich
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