Plan B for Expats ?

As someone who has never had a plan B (or really a Plan A coming to think of it)! – writing this post is somewhat cathartic. But considering the plight that some expats are finding themselves in currently, I thought it could be useful to note down some considerations that expats should always have in the back of their mind when working in opportunities overseas. This is largely based around expats living and working in Singapore but also generally applicable to other expat heavy locations.

Expats on Local Terms

This can be a somewhat precarious situation for expats, particularly those with families. By the letter of the law, if your employment ends for any reason, you and your family should leave Singapore within a 2 week timeframe. With commitments around school fees, rental contracts and outstanding tax liabilities this can come at a high financial cost also. Points worth looking into would include :

1) Do you have a diplomatic / termination clause in your rental agreement. If not, you should try to get one included
2) What is your tax liability – you will not be able to leave Singapore until you have cleared your tax bill
3) Be aware that your company are legally obliged to retain your final months’ salary to offset against your final tax bill
4) Can you negotiate with the schools in terms of early termination / recouping deposits etc.

If you are considering staying in Singapore longer term, then it would be highly advisable to look at getting a Personalized Employment Pass, or applying for PR before there are any changes to your employment status.

Relevance to Your Market

Most countries will blow hot and cold when it comes to importing talent from overseas – but typically, the tide over time will tip in the favour of local, or locally based candidates and rightly so. Certainly in the 10 years that I’ve been in Singapore it has gone full circle – evidenced by large scale on-shoring of talent particularly from India and Western economies pre GFC; however non-Singaporean candidates today find themselves low down the priority list when it comes to hiring.

Again, if you are considering settling in a country that’s not your home turf, then you continually need to assess your suitability and relevance to that market. Singapore as a country is highly dynamic and the shift in innovation and industry here can occur almost overnight; with outstanding local talent developing in all industries, some, if not many expats, could well have a shelf life in the Singapore employment market.

Manage Your Affairs Back Home

Redundancies unfortunately can happen at any time and in the current climate, your return home could happen quicker than you may have anticipated. Some expats can neglect affairs back home – some aspects to think about would be :

1) Do you have foot on the property ladder or investments in your home currency
2) Do you have cash / liquidity back home to use in case of emergency
3) Are your tax affairs in order? Have you kept your National Insurance up to date (for Brits)

Keep the International Network Alive

As mentioned in previous posts, network is everything in the current employment climate. Most firms are hiring but less publicly these days and many jobs are already filled before they come into the public domain. It’s important to keep your networks alive back in your home market – make an effort to see people when you head home for holidays and keep in contact with senior people in your industry.

A candidate the other day said something that resonated with me – “whilst I’m being made redundant, I know this will represent an excellent hiring opportunity for other firms who are in the market” – and he had approached his career and networks continually with that thought in mind; he recently found a senior role back in New York via his own connections.

Develop Secondary Income Streams

Being stuck in Singapore without an income is a costly and generally untenable affair; typically simple economics would force an unemployed expat out of Singapore pretty quickly. However the financial and tax benefits of working offshore should enable some expats to build revenue opportunities outside of day to day employment. Singapore is awash with investment opportunities and many expats also have income through properties both on and offshore which could negate any loss of earnings through employment, there are also some insurance schemes to protect against loss of earnings etc.

Summary

Some of the above may seem idealistic, but if you’re based offshore it’s prudent to consider all eventualities, often with the worst case scenario in mind. Redundancies are rarely totally unexpected and if you see dark clouds on the horizon, you need to start planning ahead quickly. This particularly applies to job searching, especially at the senior end of the market – senior roles in Singapore are scarce at the moment, particularly in the financial industry and a wide reaching, international approach should be adopted from the start of the process.

If you’d like to set up a time to discuss any of the above, please feel free to get in touch – my email address is sam@theedgepartnership.com

The Edge is an Asia focused recruitment business, helping Financial, Technology, Supply Chain, Legal, HR and Sales and Marketing professionals find employment via our offices in Singapore, Hong Kong, Mumbai and Delhi.

Author: Sam Belcher