More potential expats thinking about Asia, but many for the wrong reasons
The global economic slowdown has influenced increasing numbers of people to consider moving to Asia, according to a recent article in Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper. What I think is interesting about the situation is that people quoted in it mention that there are groups of people who they won’t really consider hiring at all.
The perception
Among workers who’ve been laid off or feel in jeopardy of being laid off there is a perception that continued growth in Asia means that companies in Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, and Shanghai are setting up desks at airports so they can hire foreigners as they arrive. With China in particular expanding 9% even in a slow year it seems they’d need increasing numbers of Western employees to help them spread into new markets.
The reality
Even though growth is there for many companies, for many more it is not. Some companies in Asia are even laying off employees at this time, so those employees will be competing with new arrivals for potential positions.
Complicating things further, according to the article, is that companies are showing preferences for former nationals who’ve moved away and are now moving back in search of better opportunities. It makes sense if you think about it that someone raised in Hong Kong and who moved to New York for a few years would be very valuable for a Hong Kong-based company, more so than a New Yorker who’s never even been to Hong Kong.
You have to be going for the right reasons
The interesting thing I eluded to at the top of this article is that those doing the hiring said it’s very important that candidates are moving to Asia because they want to move Asia rather than because they think they can get a job there for a year until things improve back home.
This is something I mentioned in an earlier article I wrote about reasons you might NOT want to be an expat. Number one on my list is that it’s important not to want to move for the wrong reasons.
Seriously, if you are from London or Los Angeles you might think you know what to expect in Shanghai because there are so many Chinese people back home, but things will feel upside down and extremely foreign regardless. It’s hard to imagine you being happy living in such a place if what you really would prefer is to have a secure job where you are currently living.
You might hear many expat success stories, but I guarantee all (or almost all) of those are from people who really wanted to try living in their new country, rather than people who thought it might be easier to get a job there in the short run. It’s a bit depressing to think about but the reality is that a new home city is going to be incredibly frustrating in many ways even if you chose it for the right reasons, and it’ll be much worse if you really don’t want to be there in the first place.