In the context of our previous article “Being an expat will be in the plans of many employees”, we will keep on analysing the data obtained out of the “Global Mobility Trends Survey 2015”, released by Cigna and the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC).

The survey shows data from 2700 temporarily transferred workers out of 156 countries .
We would like take a closer look into the data and determine which areas have higher demands of this kind of employees, where do they come from and where do they go to work, and the reasons why companies choose to hire expatriates to complete their workforce.

Which industries employ the most foreign workers?

The energy industry hired more expats than any other last year according to the “Global Mobility Trends Survey in 2015” (30%) and it also was the sector that hired more long term international employees. The technology industry (11%) and the production and manufacturing industry (10%) ended in second and third place. It’s important to point out that the company services sector (accounting, maintenance) experienced a 12% to 6% drop of new workers in 2015 compared to data from 2013. 

Which are the expats countries of origin?

Most of the expatriates come from the United States (42%), Europe (23%) and Asia (14%). Although the proportion of Americans is the highest, it declines steadily every year, because their expatriation is more expensive. To this condition it must be added that the curve of expatriates originating in other geographical areas remains on the rise.

With respect to the country of destination, Asia remains the continent most frequented by expatriates in recent years. Europe, although still in second place, has declined compared to the study conducted in 2013. Sub-Saharan Africa, for its part, has seen an increase in the proportion of expatriates in the last two years, similar to that of Asia.

What are the expats destinations?

Asia has been the main destination for expats in the last years. Europe still is in second place even though it has experienced a drop in the number of international workers compared to the same survey of 2013. Sub-saharan Africa has shown an increase in expat numbers similar to the one in Asia.

Why do companies invest in expats?

Cost cuts are the main reason for companies to invest in this hiring model as 63% of the surveyed answered. The second most common reason is international expansion with 39% and skilled workers market in a close third place with 38%. These are the three major reasons why companies make it part of their annual strategy to hire short term expat employees.

Companies that hire the most expats by country

The following chart shows which are the countries that send more workers overseas annually. American companies are notably ahead of others included in the survey.