employers dont support us enough say staff

According to research conducted by Freshminds for Lloyds TSB International’s Global Mobility Banking arm, more than a fifth of the 443 British expats who were included in the poll, or 22%, said that although they were happier in their new lives than back in Blighty, they did not get any support at all from their employers when they relocated to their foreign posting.

Nearly half said they would have benefited from more help with the move, and settling in.

One of the areas the expats  said they did not get much help with was financial advice: “only 21% of international assignees received this when they moved abroad,” a summary of the research noted.

The survey was conducted online in April, in what Lloyds TSB International said are the 10 most popular British expat destinations:  Australia, Spain, the USA, Canada, France, New Zealand, South Africa, Germany, the UAE and Hong Kong.

More financial advice wanted

Some 51% of those interviewed said they would have benefited from more financial advice on their investments. Around the same number, or 53%, said more advice on tax issues would have been useful, and 48% felt they would have been helped by more advice on their pension arrangements, the summary of the survey noted.

“Overall, 52% admit they would have benefited from planning their finances more carefully when they moved overseas.”

Nor were most of those surveyed helped with the costs of moving, the Lloyds TSB International study found: “Only half (50%) of international assignees received a moving allowance, while 42% received flights back to the UK, and 41% had help with housing costs.”
 
Support for employees’ partners was found to be even patchier, with only 13% receiving flights home and just 3% receiving help with foreign language courses – compared to 16% per cent for employees, the Lloyds TSB International researchers found. 

More than half, or 56%, said they had received no assistance from their partner’s employer at all.

Expatriate Britons say they are generally happier living abroad than they were back home, but feel they should have received more help from their employers when they made their move overseas, a new survey reveals.

According to research conducted by Freshminds for Lloyds TSB International, more than a fifth of the 443 British expats who were included in the poll, or 22%, said they did not get any support at all from their employers when they relocated to their foreign posting.
Nearly half said they would have benefited from more help with the move, and settling in.

One of the areas the expats  said they did not get much help with was financial advice: “only 21% of international assignees received this when they moved abroad,” a summary of the research noted.

The survey was conducted online in April, in what Lloyds TSB International said are the 10 most popular British expat destinations:  Australia, Spain, the USA, Canada, France, New Zealand, South Africa, Germany, the UAE and Hong Kong.

More financial advice

Some 51% of those interviewed said they would have benefited from more financial advice on their investments. Around the same number, or 53%, said more advice on tax issues would have been useful, and 48% felt they would have been helped by more advice on their pension arrangements, the summary of the survey noted.

“Overall, 52% admit they would have benefited from planning their finances more carefully when they moved overseas.”

Nor were most of those surveyed helped with the costs of moving, the Lloyds TSB International study found: “Only half (50%) of international assignees received a moving allowance, while 42% received flights back to the UK, and 41% had help with housing costs.”
 
Support for employees’ partners was found to be even patchier, with only 13% receiving flights home and just 3% receiving help with foreign language courses – compared to 16% per cent for employees, the Lloyds TSB International researchers found. 

More than half, or 56%, said they had received no assistance from their partner’s employer at all.

Nicholas Boys Smith, Director of Lloyds TSB International  –  a frequent sponsor of expat surveys because of its role as a provider of financial services to expatriates around the world  – noted that overseas assignments can be expensive for employers, and that currently, “many companies that are sending employees overseas are [also] under pressure to reduce costs”.

“But we’re also aware that most employees really value any help their companies can give to guide them through the logistics of moving overseas,” he added.

 Source: Lloyds TSB International Global Mobility Banking