The challenges faced by multinational organizations in attracting employees to accept international assignments are different today than 10 years ago. Issues that have assumed growing importance include changes in employee lifestyle, the expansion of the global marketplace, and the escalation of expatriate costs.

Two-career families have been steadily bringing increased pressure on employers, who rarely considered this issue in relocation policies a few decades ago. During more recent years, the emergence of new markets in Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa has increased the need for expatriate assignments to difficult, dangerous or unpleasant locations. Added to these factors is the high cost of sending an expatriate abroad, averaging approximately two to three times base salary when allo

The number of employers who do not ship cars increased from 54.4% in 1988 to 75% today. Companies would rather help the employee buy or lease a car overseas, or pay for public transportation in locations that are easily accessible and safe.

Traditional incentives can easily become lost in the employee's paycheck and considered as a regular part of pay before much time has passed. Mobility premiums, with partial payment in lump-sum form before and then again after the assignment is complete, link the incentive to the process of relocation that it is designed to encourage. Here are relevant survey findings:

A traditional inducement to attract employees to accept an international assignment is the foreign service premium built into the expatriate's pay throughout the duration of the assignment. A gradual shift has been evident, taking employer practice away from this format and using mobility premiums instead, with a very different motivational impact.

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