How Best To Salve Your Tech Fever
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday December 8, 1998
Want a crack at the high-tech hot spots? PHILIPPA YELLAND has the good oil.
IN THE swinging '60s, the bright young things packed a canvas rucksack and headed for Earls Court in London to make a name for themselves.
Now the information backpackers shoulder their laptops and set off for the high-tech hot spots in Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, China and Europe.
David Keegan, national human resources manager for Dell Computer Australia, says there are discernible trends for high-tech careers in the global marketplace.
"The international assignment has significant value for employer and employee," he says.
For employers, expatriates can be catalysts in transferring technology to the international operation. Posting key employees to overseas subsidiaries lets companies establish themselves where local expertise is not available.
For employees, Keegan says, "a successful post overseas early in your professional life can be valuable in building an executive career. Some multinationals require their managers to serve a term abroad before rising in the executive ranks."
Keegan has the following pointers for high-techies aspiring to exotic climes and locations.
Becoming a candidate
"THERE'S no set formula," Keegan says, "but the following help: fluency in a second language, specific knowledge of the culture, and first-hand personal experience in a foreign country."
The big demand is for skills in: Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Malaysian and other Pacific Rim languages. Appropriate academic credentials are important: an undergraduate degree in computer science or other technical discipline, alternatively a degree in business.
Keegan says the ideal candidate for an overseas posting will have all these, plus work experience with industry competitors.
Job markets
THE immense size of Asian markets and the untapped potential markets in China add up to high-tech hot spots, says Keegan.
Australia's highly educated and culturally diverse population lures many IT corporations to set up their Asia Pacific headquarters in Sydney or Melbourne. The other logical choice for IT research and development/ production facilities is fast becoming Malaysia. Japan has an affluent and sophisticated consumer electronics and PC market, so it draws many high-tech groups.
Hong Kong is still attractive for import and export, and as a base for the huge consumer and commercial markets in China. Malaysia is luring electronics and computer manufacturers because of its well-educated, multilingual population.
Staffing strategies
MOST companies look internally for employees who are appropriate for overseas postings. If there are none, then they'll search outside, Keegan says. This is done in two main ways.
First, tertiary students with appropriate language and academic qualifications are recruited. This is effective for countries where the culture is not dramatically different from that in the originating country.
The second method is used for countries which are different culturally. Here, citizens of the target country are recruited from universities in the company's home country.
Following corporate orientation - from two months to two years - the employees are assigned to their home countries. "At Dell, we have a performance-based culture and leverage international Dell experience by actively recruiting specialist company knowledge across the three regions, being the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific."
Logistics and lifestyle
DAVID Keegan says the main trend in the industry is "providing the resources and opportunity to move internationally.
"Gone are the days of full-blown expatriate relocation," he says. "More and more people are wanting the opportunity to gain international exposure to extend their applications skill base and develop a broader perspective on international business."
Most overseas postings are from one to four years, with orientation before send-off. This may include a home-search trip for the employee and family. Orientation commonly includes briefings on compensation - direct and indirect - tax considerations, adjustments to the benefits package, and the concepts of "home" and "host" countries.
Site-based differentials
DEPENDING on the role, employees posted overseas will usually be paid the same base salary as in the home country.
"The thinking is that since the employee will eventually return to the home country, it's best to stay consistent with the current salary structure and provide site-based differentials to address cost inequities in the host country," Keegan says.
"When the role is significantly different, or strategically important to the ongoing growth of the Australian and New Zealand International Business Unit, the entire package is reviewed in accordance with both the local information technology salary benchmarks and Dell's international relocation policy."
Most employers include a housing and utilities differential to help in locations where such costs are often higher.
Goods and services
Many corporations also provide a goods and services differential to protect the assignee from higher living expenses. This is tied to the local cost-of-living index.
Educational assistance
Many corporations recognise that the education of children is a prime concern for assignees. Thus, there is often some form of funding to let employees provide their children with education equivalent to their home country.
Leave benefits
ALMOST all companies provide home leave at the company's expense. Many companies also grant emergency leave for the employee and his or her family.
With work hours and paid holidays, employers often align their policies with what is accepted in the host country. Some companies authorise employees to observe either the home or host country's practice, whatever is preferable.
Tax
"THIS subject is complex and confusing," Keegan says. "Taxation, while appearing to be precise, is actually an inexact science, subject to interpretation."
Accordingly, employers will often provide outside professional tax advisers to help employees with taxes. Usually, an expatriate is liable to the home country for income taxes on salary and compensation paid by the company. The employee is also liable to the host country for income taxes based on compensation earned while living there.
Rental income
DAVID Keegan adds that "this equation becomes even more complex when the expatriate owns a house in the home country, which is rented during the international assignment.
"The income constitutes income, and is taxable."
Keegan advises a prospective hi-tech backpacker to get onto the Net and do a thorough research of the differentials in cost of living, goods and services, and most importantly means of transport in the respective country.
"Armed with this research the employee needs to speak to the Human Resources department within the prospective host."
Keegan concludes: "Increasingly frenetic activity in international markets will translate into a strong demand for those who are knowledgeable, educated and mobile for global assignments. So, keep your passport up to date, and keep studying key languages."
© 1998 Sydney Morning Herald
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