Families left out of expat equations, says report

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Nearly half of all companies do not consider employees' family commitments when placing them in overseas positions, claims an Industrial Society report.

The report also found that organisations rarely interview spouses or partners about an overseas assignment. Only 10 per cent of companies do this, according to the survey of 291 HR specialists from companies such as Shell, HSBC, IBM and Ford.

"This figure is surprisingly low given that an unhappy partner is often one of the main reasons for the failure of a placement," said Industrial Society spokesman Alex Swarbick.

These findings are supported by a William M Mercer survey, which shows that 65 per cent of all employers have no formal expatriate selection process. This survey included 104 multinational companies.

By Richard Staines