I was a barrister in Australia who thought it might be fun to take a year to live with my husband in far north Finland. It wasn’t, because I couldn’t work. I was ignored and my whole identity disappeared. We now live apart for five days a week—he in far north Finland, me in Helsinki. I am working, but it is not the same senior job I had in Australia and this has caused intense bitterness.
—Belinda, 32 years, Expat Wife
Ask mobility managers their biggest challenge in overcoming some of the barriers to mobility or providing on-assignment support, and almost without exception they will say, “when things aren’t working out it’s primarily family issues.”1 “Family concerns,” “partner dissatisfaction,” and “spouse’s career” ...
Get Managing Expatriates now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
