Globalization has brought many people from all over the world onto a common platform due to which it has become necessary for companies across the globe to send employees for on-site visits. China, which has become a manufacturing powerhouse in the last two decades, has a lot of manufacturing units of different multinational companies on its soil. In order to manage the Chinese operations, a lot of employees from different companies across the world are sent to China on job assignments. As many of these assignments are of long term duration, often families too accompany the employees. For an expat trailing spouse, there are perks to visit China as companies often provide lucrative remuneration packages, accommodations, and bonus due to which the overall income of the family increases (Driscoll, 2014). However, the trailing spouses encounter a slew of challenges in China, especially if they go to the country, quitting their jobs. The major issues encountered by the trailing spouses in China include professional sacrifice, family conflicts, barriers to mobility, work life challenges, loss of identity, and gender related challenges in the new country. However, in this essay, only the issue of professional sacrifice and its impact will be touched upon, with a few remedial solutions provided at the end.
For a trailing spouse, not having the ability to earn one’s own money is a challenge, especially if the person has worked for a long period of time before becoming a trailing spouse, or if he or she is highly skilled. Depending on the income of the better half creates a sense of self-pity and frustration, which may lead to depression in the long run if the situation does not change (Laowai, 2013). This may put a strain on the marriage, often leading to repatriation and even divorce. Due to family conflicts arising out of such issue, the employee also becomes unable to concentrate on his or her work, resulting in poor performance. Many of these assignments are about 3-4 years of duration, which creates confusion in the minds of the trailing spouses as to whether to start a full-fledged new career in China or apply for small part-time jobs (ACA, 2013). Often in the process, the previously working trailing spouses lose five years of valuable work experience, which makes it difficult for them to get back to the job market once they go back to their homelands.
Getting a job in China is not a smooth process. The only jobs easily available for trailing spouses, who hail from the English speaking countries, are school teaching and English language development centers. However, these jobs are only available in big cities like Shanghai and Beijing (ACA, 2013). If the employees are stationed in a remote location or a small city, even finding this kind of job opportunity becomes impossible. The Chinese market does not have the dearth of job opportunities, but the main problem is that almost all those jobs require fluency in the Chinese language. Most of the employees and their trailing spouses receive a basic training in Chinese language to get the daily needs fulfilled (Fitzgerald-Turner, 2014). Besides, learning Chinese is not an easy task as the language is monosyllabic (ACA, 2013). Therefore, even if suitable opportunities are available in the Chinese market, the trailing spouses cannot apply for those jobs because of their inability to speak Chinese.
The main problem with sending employees to China and other countries by a company is that they do not understand the full implications of the expatriation. They often take measures only considering the employees, not taking the trailing spouses into account. Often these companies try to shrug off their responsibility by providing some extra perks and accommodation for the employees, not bothering about the difficulties the trailing spouses face in the host country (Driscoll, 2014).
A little bit of thoughts and efforts made by the HR can improve the situation of the trailing spouses to a great degree. First of all, HR should create a buddy program through which the trailing spouses can meet and interact with other trailing spouses already present in China for a long time (Laowai, 2013). This will help the trailing spouses build a social group in the new country and help their queries as regards how to get a job or integrate into the society of China answered. Secondly, the companies should not only train employees about the host country, its culture, and language, but also should include the trailing spouses in the training program. Finally, the HR should not send a person to long-term assignments in a short notice. Allowing them a few months beforehand for preparing themselves for the new life in China would help the employees and the trailing spouses a lot (ACA, 2013).
In conclusion, the trailing spouses who pay a visit to China face three major issues, including language barriers, professional sacrifice, and the lack of a social circle (Driscoll, 2014). Companies that send employees abroad often do not take into account the difficulties faced by the trailing spouses in the host country, due to which conflicts arise in the expat families, leading to poor performance and early repatriation. Simple measures taken by the HR for the trailing spouses like the language training, spouse buddy program, and sufficient lead time before expatriation can solve a lot of issues.
References
Fitzgerald-Turner, B. (2014). Myths of Expatriate Life. Retrieved on 24 November 2014, from <http://www.expat.or.id/info/mythsofexpatlife.html>
Katz, Jeffrey P.; Seifer, D. M. (1996). It's a Different World Out There: Planning for Expatriate Success Through Selection, Pre-Departure Training and On-Site Socialization. Academic Journal. 19(2). Retrieved on 24 November 2014, from <http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/9706262698/different-world-out-there-planning-expatriate-success-through-selection-pre-departure-training-on-site-socialization>
Harvey, M. (1996). Addressing the Dual-Career Expatriation Dilemma. Academic Journal. 19 (4). Retrieved on 24 November 2014, from <http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/9709111111/addressing-dual-career-expatriation-dilemma>
Driscoll, I. (2014). You love going abroad for work. Your spouse hates it. BBC. Retrieved on 24 November 2014, from < http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20141110-the-reluctant-expat-spouse>
Lost Laowai. (2013). The Reinvention of an Expat Trailing Spouse. Retrieved on 24 November 2014, from < http://www.lostlaowai.com/blog/expat-stuff/china-expat-advice/the-reinvention-of-an-expat-trailing-spouse/>
American Counseling Organization (ACA). (2013). Trailing Spouses: The Expat Tai-Tai’s of Shanghai. Retrieved on 24 November 2014, from <http://www.counseling.org/news/blog/aca-blog/2013/05/06/trailing-spouses-the-expat-tai-tai-s-of-shanghai>
