Карьерные потрясения могут стать катализатором адаптации для экспатов при проактивном подходе

New research challenges the idea that career shocks are bad news for expatriate workers, finding major personal, professional or societal disruptions can instead act as a catalyst for adaptation and resilience. In a study published in The International Journal of Human Resource Management, researchers from The University of Western Australia found expats who responded proactively to career shocks were significantly more likely to bounce back and report sustainable, satisfying global careers in the long run. Lead author Dr Renata Casado from the UWA Business School said career shocks were disruptive and often unexpected events that could occur at individual, organisational or institutional level, changing a person's career direction or priorities. "At the individual level it may be a personal life event like marriage, divorce or separation, having a child, a partner's job relocation, or health issues affecting the expat themselves or someone close to them," Dr Casado said. "They're the kinds of issues that often force expats to rethink their career, family and lifestyle priorities." Organisational-level career shocks could include restructures, redundancies, leadership change, loss of a key mentor, company downturns or ethical scandals – all events that could disrupt career plans by removing opportunities or creating new ones. "At the institutional level it may be things like economic downturns or disruptions to the labour market, geopolitical tensions, political uncertainty, changes in immigration policy or pandemics," Dr Casado said. "These large-scale economic, political or social events can reshape people's careers by directly affecting jobs, visa pathways, residency prospects and career opportunities." The study set out to examine whether there was any difference in how 'assigned expatriates' – employees sponsored by their company to live and work in another country – responded to career shocks compared to 'self-initiated expatriates' who independently moved and built careers overseas. "After surveying more than 150 expats of both kinds, we found that rather than derailing people's global career prospects, disruptive events can strengthen careers long-term," Dr Casado said. "Overall, the most important factor was whether they responded proactively by doing things like reassessing their goals and priorities and developing new career plans, upskilling or retraining, expanding their networks, or relocating internationally. "These kinds of proactive career behaviours were seen in both groups but were more common in assigned expats, who were more likely to have access to organisational support systems and alternative opportunities within the organisation." Dr Casado said the lesson for expat employees was that when a career shock occurred, they shouldn't assume they had to simply 'get back on track'. "A disruption can be a useful point to reassess your priorities, the opportunities available to you, and whether your current career direction still makes sense." For human resources professionals managing mobile workforces, the lesson was that supporting global mobility was about more than getting people successfully into an assignment. "Career support, internal mobility pathways, development opportunities and networks are more important than ever when a shock hits an individual and can provide the resources that enable employees to respond constructively when circumstances change," Dr Casado said. She said the findings were pertinent in Australia, which relied on skilled migration to help meet workforce needs. "Bringing skilled workers into the country does not guarantee we will retain their skills," Dr Casado said. "Our findings suggest we need to think beyond recruitment and visas to what happens to migrants' careers once they are here. Career opportunities, organisational support and pathways that help people become embedded in the Australian labour market can matter when their circumstances change. "For a country competing globally for skilled workers, the question is not only how we attract talent, but how we create the conditions for that talent to build sustainable careers in Australia." /University Release. This material from the originating organization/author(s) might be of the point-in-time nature, and edited for clarity, style and length. Mirage.News does not take institutional positions or sides, and all views, positions, and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s).View in full here.