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Senior Executives Are Not Happy

More than two-fifths of senior executives currently report job dissatisfaction, finds the Association of Executive Search Consultants’ (AESC) latest BlueSteps Executive Satisfaction survey of 196 such executives worldwide during a 30-day period beginning in late January and ending in late February. Fifty-five percent of them have seen a reduction in their organizations ’ revenue, including 20 percent of those surveyed who saw dramatic cuts in their staff. Tellingly, 18 percent report that their level of dissatisfaction stems from “the way their company handled the layoffs that resulted from the recession,” according to a press statement from the AESC.

Interestingly, 70 percent report that they are presently seeking employment elsewhere because of these conditions, a finding from the AESC ’s research that appears to support data on CEO turnover gathered by Challenger, Gray & Christmas during a similar time period and reported by RecruitingTrends. “Whilst we all understand the dramatic effects of the financial crisis on the senior executive job market,” said BlueSteps Director Della Giles, in the same AESC press statement, “it is particularly shocking to see how executive job satisfaction has been shaken over the past 18 months. As the job market improves and new career opportunities emerge, we will certainly see an increase in executive mobility as these leaders move into more desirable positions.” Source: RecruitingTrends.com.

Foreign Expat Workers Heading Home in Dramatic Numbers

The lack of opportunities in the U.S. plus burgeoning business opportunities on their home turf are causing foreign workers to return to their native lands. Experts warn that the shift will force domestic firms to compete with their one-time workforce as they open their own companies in their native countries.

A 2009 survey by financial firm HSBC revealed that 23 percent of expats in the United States and 44 percent in the United Kingdom were considering going home because of the global economy. Although they originate from several countries, these expats from the U.S. and U.K. cited limited career prospects as the top reason for returning home. Of particular concern is the fact “for the first time in American history, expats are leaving,” says Vivek Wadhwa, senior research associate at Harvard Law School. “For the last decade or so, there's been a massive outflux of talent, particularly to India and China. These are typically skilled professionals in the prime of their careers.”

Vivek Wadhwa, senior research associate with the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School, says that between 50,000 and 75,000 Indian and Chinese professionals went back home in the last 20 years. Those numbers will soon more than double. “There will be another 100,000 to India and 100,000 to China in the next five years,” he says. “These people are driving innovations in their home countries that will become competitors to America.”

Some causes related to the exodus include:

Problems getting green cards, due to 0-year backlog for green cards.
While expats wait, they can ’t move, change jobs, or even get promotions. With plenty of good job opportunities in China and India, they see little reason to stay in the U.S.
Companies are evaluating the costs of international assignments and the need to bring expatriates home. “Now there are lots of capable people in those countries who can perform those jobs. Companies ask if they really need to send people overseas or can we hire locally. This is a big dynamic in global business,” says Scott Sullivan, executive vice president of Brookfield Global Relocation Services.
Twenty years ago, setting up and developing new operations called for high-level employees. Now, “it ’s mostly filling specific skill-set needs, “ says Eileen Mullaney, principal for international assignment services at PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Employers are evaluating the viability of their mobility strategy regarding support of talent development, especially for future leaders.
Many companies feel the economy has “forced their hand, making them choose between mobilization or localization.”

The big question is, “Are we losing our competitive edge?”

Source: www.workforce.com/archive/feature/27/05/75/index.php

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