New stats and a benchmark on international short-term assignments (STAs)

One of the staple "go to" policies in the global mobility toolbox is the international short-term assignment (STA) policy. If your company is sending people across borders to work for more than a month and less than 12 months, then you probably have a short-term assignment policy. And since it seems like everyone loves a good policy benchmark, let's look at the latest one from ECA International that just came out on STAs. 

Per ECA International, for the 67% of companies with a formal written policy, most are designed to support assignments between 3 and 12 months in duration. A good portion (65%) of those with policies only allow for the employee to go on the assignment unaccompanied and 63% of participants in the survey expect a rise in the number of STAs over the next 3 years.

In our own Global Mobility Trends Survey (Q1 2023), while few companies suggested that they would have pre-pandemic volumes this year, the majority (52%) expected an increase in international STAs, while 32% expected the volume to remain the same and only 16% expected a decrease. The survey revealed the ongoing trend that companies will use STAs over international long-term assignments (LTAs) due to the ability for remote work to minimize the need to be physically present in a location for long periods of time. Despite alternatives like “Expat Lite” and “Local Plus” policy options, STAs are seen as balancing the needs of the company and the employee (including the family) while still being extremely useful for skill and career development. They also tend to result in lower tax and assignment costs for the company than LTAs. A little more than one in five participants indicated that they would be reviewing this policy in 2023, making it 4th on the list for review.

The main driver for a STA is to fulfill temporary project needs and about 3/4 of participants track their employees on STAs. Those that are tracking are paying particular attention to the cumulative number of days spent in the host country, the frequency and duration of trips back to them home country (and/or at least out of the host country) and the type of business activity being undertaken.  Typically, the housing solution looks like furnished/serviced accommodations and 74% cover daily living expenses. One of the newer elements reported (on their #infographic) is information on sustainability measures, where they shared that:

• 78% use housing options near the place of work
• 58% only fly economy class
• 56% use public transport instead of taxis and cars

Why are STAs so popular?

• When structured properly, STAs can save money and be less expensive than long-term assignments (LTAs) or permanent transfers
• Many employees find them more appealing, and are more likely to accept them because they need not uproot their family, especially as it relates to their spouse’s work and children's schooling
• STAs can often be deployed more quickly for project work, transferring knowledge and covering talent gaps