The money's great, but the wife's not happy
S. Mitra Kalita -
Thursday, August 28, 2008 3:57 PM
I wasn't that surprised when I read Rajeshwari Sharma's story this morning about Indian firms seeing costs surge by hiring expats. And I think at some levels--namely, middle management--it is resulting in upping expenses all around as you manage both salary and ego (pay the locals more so they don't feel inferior, is how one manager explained it to me). As an expat, another problem becomes Indians' readiness to ask you how much you make and then when you play coy, they'll ask how much you pay in rent. You can literally hear them multiply by 12 to calculate what you must earn on top of that! (Now, I don't tell anyone what we pay our landlord; we made that mistake once with an uncle, who somehow let the whole state of Assam know!)
But I paused when I came to this line: "The survey also says that spouse dissatisfaction was one of the major
factors for failure of international assignments. Some 12 firms
surveyed cited family expectations and spouse dissatisfaction as a
major challenge in case of managing international assignees. Yet, only
eight of them surveyed had policies addressing these issues. '...Softer
issues, such as spouse support measures and repatriation planning still
take second place to other operational aspects of international
assignment management,' says Rupam Mishra, head of global mobility
practice at Mercer India, a part of US-based Marsh and McLennan
Companies Inc."
Some companies, like Indigo Airlines, which has hired many foreign pilots, do focus on getting the whole family support. The company works with Global Adjustments, a company I quoted last year in a column about how few trainers there are in helping expats understand the Indian workplace. But I was surprised because I have found in the case of me and my also American-born husband, he has adjusted much easier than I to India's ways and whims.A different workplace and the vibe of New Delhi proved an initial shock to my system, whereas his ability to paint at home, chill with other artists, shuttle our daughter around and really enjoy her, eased his entry to India. (Of course, his roots ultimately rest in Delhi, as his mother grew up here, so maybe he felt he was coming home...)
For the spouses who remain unsatisfied in India, there is help, however. A group called Strategic Links India has been formed and holds networking sessions and panel discussions on how to make the transition easier. Just this week, one list-serv I am on showed that Strategic Links is partnering with the non-profit Permits Foundation to lobby for spouses of expatriates nationwide to get work visas and permits. When I was a journalist in the US, I ironically wrote about this issue from the other end, where women of H-1B visa holders go to the US and find themselves unable to work. And then coming to India made me wonder if these virtual online-order weddings of Barista brides were the right way to go. The Permit Foundation wants to hear from expat hires and spouses in this online survey; the results will be used to lobby governments to make labour laws more expat-friendly. I wonder if it is administering the survey in the US, too, because I know a lot of Indian women angry over their sudden at-home, unemployed, "dependent" status.
As an aside, for those of you in Delhi or Gurgaon, it looks like Strategic Links is also holding a conference on "Medical Challenges for Expats in India." Info is on its web site. Perhaps I am being hypocritical to my equally expat self but I can't sympathize too much with expats and their trouble finding adequate health care... If they wanted the authentic Indian experience, that's about as Indian as it gets...