Surveys consistently demonstrate that problems with spousal adjustment are the leading cause of early return home from expatriate assignments, which is costly in terms of repatriation and replacement of the expatriate, and in terms of company performance. One of the key factors affecting spousal adjustment is interruption/cessation of employment. Recent surveys also reveal that although 60% of spouses are employed before expatriate assignments, only about 20% find employment while abroad. Despite these indicators, employers provide very limited employment assistance to spouses.

During 2007-2008, I traveled through the Asia-Pacific region to conduct a research study on spousal adjustment. The study was funded by the SHRM Foundation (affiliated with the U.S. Society for Human Resource Management). All 238 participants completed a questionnaire regarding employment assistance. Of those, 100 participants volunteered to meet with me for a more detailed discussion, and provided specific information on the assistance they had received, and what additional assistance would have been helpful.  

Executive Summary

The results of the study showed that spouses who experience a severe disruption or cessation of employment have significantly lower interactional adjustment (with regard to interacting with host nationals) than other spouses. For spouses with a career orientation to work, females had higher cultural adjustment (related to food, housing, medical care etc) and interactional adjustment than males.

Only 18 percent of the spouses received employer-provided career assistance, and there was no significant difference in adjustment between spouses who received assistance and those who did not. Those who received assistance gave mediocre ratings of its effectiveness (average 3.2 out of 5), suggesting that employers need to more carefully design such assistance based on a rigorous assessment of spousal needs.

Interviews with 100 spouses indicated that their greatest needs are for networking information to assist in their job search and for a ‘go-to' person for practical settling-in assistance. The good news is that the cost of this assistance is minimal. Creating lists of classic books regarding portable careers, employment agencies, other Western companies operating in the location, expatriate associations/networks, expatriate websites, networking groups for spouses, international schools and other organizations providing services to the expatriate community can be obtained via a Web search or through existing spousal groups and networks. Hiring existing expatriate spouses on a contract basis to provide assistance to newly-arriving spouses before and during the actual moving and settling-in period is also inexpensive and cost-effective.