Worldwide ERC® would like to thank their 2007 sponsors:

Worldwide ERC’s fifth annual Global Workforce Summit: Focus on the Asia-Pacific welcomed more than 400 delegates and represented over 30 countries. A recap of global workforce mobility issues examined by attendees and speakers included the following:

• The labor market continues to tighten, particularly for China, where the workforce will actually diminish over the next decade. Countries and businesses must develop labor strategies to meet their workforce needs or risk losing their economic position. Experts suggest that as the labor pool gets more challenging, companies look for ways to change or eliminate policies and rules that restrict who can and will work for them; unbundle work and shift some of it outside of organizations, or partner with another company to share the work so that workforce requirements can be met. Expect the continued emergence of outsourced, contract, temporary and contingency workers. Diversity will increase in the workplace as companies seek talent in all sectors.
• Technological advances will drive how and where work gets done. More work will be conducted 24/7 as companies utilize global teams, and technology will enable employees to work in nontraditional workplace configurations (such as work at home and hoteling work space).
• Companies are looking for ways to build trust and job security for their current employees, because they know that retaining employees as the workforce pool gets smaller is even more important to maintaining a competitive edge. Some of the ways companies are doing this is to address more of the personal issues that are important to employees (for example, providing day care or elder care, identifying the job that will follow the current assignment, addressing more spouse and family issues, and offering skill-building training or higher education opportunities).
• Selecting and assessing the best candidates for international assignments will be increasingly critical in the next few years. Only a small percentage of companies are actively addressing this need now, but more and more will incorporate this element into their labor strategy. It's clear that partnered research between the Worldwide ERC® Foundation and Thunderbird, the School of Global Management, which identifies the qualities of employees with a "global mindset," is well-timed and relevant.
• Capturing the knowledge gained from international assignments when the employee returns will help companies reap more from their investment in the transferee - most companies admit they don't do this well, but they also are seeking ways to correct this internally, through such efforts as the development of effective repatriation strategies.
• Some companies, in regions where it is difficult to attract workers, are focusing on building support and loyalty from the families of their current workforce, in hopes that the children of their employees will find the company an appealing employer when they are of age to work.
• Companies are cultivating relationships with universities to incorporate their own training and systems in university curriculum and create a pipeline to graduates.
• Companies also are looking at ways to hire the spouses of expats (when it is acceptable and legal for them to work in the assignment country) who might be able to fill open positions.
• It's more important than ever to be an employer of choice – those companies who attract employees because of their exceptional brand and high-value employee proposition as opposed to (or in addition to) competing with higher salaries, will build more loyalty and likely will have better retention rates. Companies also will gain employee loyalty and trust by demonstrating corporate responsibility to the community and the environment, and by developing "transparency" in their management and financial practices.
• The aging of the workforce is an important issue, as are birth rates - countries that can "replace" their current workforce will likely fare better than those who must compete for talent that they hire from other countries. Some companies are estimating the impact that maternity leave and the percentage of those mothers returning to work (or not) will have on their workforce needs.
• A macro-economic power shift away from the U.S. and toward Asian economic powers will cause policies, practices and processes to originate in the East. There is a "healthy rivalry" between India and China – these emerging superpowers are fully aware that their rapid growth is being closely monitored by the rest of the world, and they are seeking education on mobility issues that will help them continue to ascend. Concurrently, companies are setting up operations in new emerging markets - the most anticipated Asia-Pacific activity is projected to occur in Vietnam.
• It is important to note that these shifts and changes are occurring in an environment where the pressure to be cost-efficient remains, and where procurement professionals play an increasing role in the purchasing of HR services.

Summit Convenor
Worldwide ERC® has been the recognized leader in mobile workforce issues for nearly 40 years. A professional membership association highly regarded for its educational programs, Worldwide ERC® is a global community of professionals developing and sharing strategies for building, managing, and supporting a global workforce. Learn more about Worldwide ERC® at www.erc.org.

About the Summit | Presentations | Past Companies Represented
What Past Delegates Say | About Shanghai
Global Workforce Summit: EMEA | GLOBILITY®

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