Choices, Challenges, and Career Consequences of Global Work Experiences

TLDR

Global employment has attracted growing interest over the past two decades, with researchers examining diverse forms such as corporate and self‑initiated expatriates, flexpatriates, short‑term assignees, and international business travelers. The authors review empirical studies on the choices, challenges, and career consequences of global work experiences and propose a future research agenda. They synthesize the literature and develop a taxonomy of global work experiences. Their synthesis yields a taxonomy that categorizes global work experiences.

Abstract

Over the past 20 years, there has been increased interest in global forms of employment. Researchers have identified and investigated a number of global work experiences, including corporate and self-initiated expatriates as well as more novel forms of corporate global employees (flexpatriates, short-term assignees, and international business travelers). In this article, the authors review the empirical research that has investigated individual choices, challenges, and career consequences associated with the various types of global work. They summarize and synthesize this growing body of literature and then develop a taxonomy of global work experiences. Based on their review of this literature and their taxonomy, the authors outline an agenda for future research on global work experiences.