50 million people is a lot of people, and some reports say that this many people leave their native country making them expats. According to this article, "2.8 million Canadians actively pursue expat assignments as a chance to travel and experience a new culture first-hand."
The audience for this article might have originally been Canadian HQ-based global mobility managers, but the details in the article generally apply to all talent mobility programs. It's no surprise that many expats report feeling extra stress, culture shock, homesickness and social isolation, and that one in four employees around the world will have mental or neurological concerns at some point in their lives, it makes complete sense that we need to consider how to best support expats and their mental health.
Hey, we even wrote a white paper on the subject: Exploring Expat Mental Health.
When we talk about the wellness of mobile employees and duty of care concepts, we often remain focused on an employee's physical safety. It's important to remember that the overall wellbeing of your expat includes financial, social and emotional factors too.
That's why this article below speaks to many of the points we hit on in our white paper and why it applies to more than just outbound Canadians. What could you do to be more proactive and more available to your expat population?