FOREIGN EMPLOYMENT: A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE
John Smith
Grantham University
BA405 Multinational Management December 12, 2014

FOREIGN EMPLOYMENT: A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE

I have often thought of working and living in a foreign country. As a soldier, I was able to achieve that while stationed in Germany and South Korea. As a soldier though, one does not get the full effect of living within a society that has norms, customs and traditions different from those we find in the United States. To work and live in a foreign country as a private citizen would be a terrific experience. Much thought has been given over the years as to where. Perhaps Belize, where it is always warm, costs are comparatively inexpensive and a place that has a motto for tourist that says “go slow”. There’s probably not going to be much going there though where one can pull down a livable wage with benefits. Africa has also sounded good from time to time. I once met a soldier from Ghana. He informed me one day he was going home for vacation and as the conversation progressed, I learned that on an income of less than $1500 one could live like a king with an estate, a driver and servants. However, Western Africa may be a bit hostile for my taste. As the list narrows, I am left with Mexico, Germany and England. I have never been to England. To begin with, I would never give up my citizenship as an American. I enjoy the American exceptionalism and the bravado that comes with being the best in the world, so my assignment, or job, in a foreign country would have to be a short term, no more than five years. There would be many challenges and adventures to overcome and enjoy while in a foreign land. Things to consider are taxes, the cost of living, driving, national rights (akin to our Constitutional rights), work rules/customs and work relationships; the list goes on. However, most of my concerns would relate to the financial aspect, followed by housing and ultimately my return home to the USA. The first order of business to work in England would to be to have secured employment. Once employment was secured, I would have to apply for a Tier 2 (general) Visa. In order to get this visa, I would have to meet several criteria to include having certificate of sponsorship. Additional to the certificate and an offer of employment, some of the criteria I would have to meet would include having a minimum of £900 (about $1500 US) in my bank for a period of at least three months, ability to speak English, earn an “appropriate salary” of between £20,300 and £152,000 and work in an occupation that meets the requirements of the Tier 2 shortage occupation list. If I could meet all these requirements, then I could work in England. My concern would be about my family and the requirement they would have to meet in order to bring them with me. As it turns out, my approved Tier 2 visa will cover them as long as they meet the minimum of £600 in the bank for three months. With the visa and my family covered, my next order of business would be to figure out the forthcoming tax conundrum. Generally speaking, this particular topic is mind blowing. As I understand the basics though, it appears that an American earning a foreign based income is still subject to all US tax laws. There are agreements in place between the US and the United Kingdom that prevent, or at least mitigate, double taxation. For instance, an American can file for the foreign tax credit on his IRS form 1040. The credit is a dollar for dollar tax credit that reduces the US tax owed by an individual. In layman terms, for every dollar one pays to the Queen, that dollar is eliminated from the US tax that is due. That said, the cost of taxes in England is horrific. Her majesty taxes one’s earned income between £31,866 - £150,000 at a rate of 40% compared to the US rate which varies within that spread of earnings in the range of 15% to 28%. The tax years run differently as well, with the UK running from April to April. This would further confuse someone trying to do his own taxes. All in all, I would have to ensure that the salary is considerable in order to take a position with a UK company, and I would have to hire a tax attorney. My next consideration would be healthcare. As I truly do not understand the inner workings and complications of normal insurance here at home, I could only imagine the trials and tribulations that one would encounter in a foreign country such as England. For starters though, healthcare in England is very comparable in its availability, sustainability and professionalism to that which we find here in the USA. As it turns out though, persons on a Tier 2 visa in England are afforded some of the same healthcare services as the ordinary UK citizen. According to the National Health Services of UK website, persons on a Tier 2 can receive free treatment for some things, such as treatments for infectious diseases and wellness visits, which the ordinary citizen can get. In order to get these, one has to register with the local General Practitioner, which is similar to the Health and Human Services office you find in the communities across the US. Recently, though, the NHS passed rules that implement a plan to charge Tier 2 persons for the healthcare they receive in emergency rooms, eye doctor and dentist offices and also for prescriptions. Private insurance is also available on the open market and in some cases through your employer. The system in England is much like the model the USA is trying to implement, so I am sure there will be a learning curve. There are several reasons to consider working in a foreign country such as England. I am a bit of a history buff, and I am fascinated by the American Revolution. Working there would provide me the opportunity to explore the split between the King and the colonies with a different perspective. Edward Gibbon, a renowned English historian of the late 1700’s, called the United States a nation founded in the “criminal enterprise of rebellion” and I have read that many of the King’s subjects of the time felt that the colonies were traitors and terrorists while today many older English fell the same way. Above and beyond the historical, the knowledge and experience gained from doing business in a foreign country would be immeasurable. There are multiple cultural differences to be discovered and used during ones career and this experience would definitely enhance one’s ability to not only understand them, but also enable him to learn to work with others. Working in England would also allow me to enhance and broaden my network of people from many different fields and occupations. England is a member of the European Union, which is comprised of 28 countries with a combined population of more than 500 million people. Typically, there are no borders and business is conducted throughout the union on a daily basis in much the same manner that business is conducted here in the United States. All in all, working and living in England would be life enriching both personally and professionally. Upon the return back to the United States, though, there would be an adjustment period. In England, they drive on the wrong side of the street. The automobiles have the steering on the wrong side of the car, the gas pedal is reversed and if you happen to have a manual transmission, you have to learn to shift with your left hand. Relearning to drive in America would definitely be a challenge. The more difficult and rather more important tasks that would need to be overcome are finding a place to live, starting your new job and moving into an unknown neighborhood while trying to settle your family in. There would be a significant change in your work behaviors. The UK work ethic is more analogous to the work to live rather than the US workers live to work mentality. After five years of working in the UK, I believe I would assimilate and take on many of the traits of my British coworkers meaning that I would take vacations without management expectation to still check email and complete any assigned projects. Americans, nor Brits for that matter, are universally lazy when it comes to work but there would likely be a point where I would have to push myself to get back into the flow of my new management’s expectations. Working in England would give me a broader network of acquaintances and business associates. The new network would enable me to implement different ways of doing things, such as managing and leading my peers and subordinates. The experiences gained from working there would also broaden my ability to apply critical thinking to projects and decision making. There would also likely be an extensive array of methods to implement process improvements related to office management, work flow and perhaps even production methods. I would bring a lot to the table, however, I would be faced with making adjustments to the way business is conducted in the United States. There would likely be big changes in technology used in my profession, production processes and the way human resources are managed. Returning to work in the USA would be just the same as starting work in England five years earlier. Using a bit of introspective, I do believe the biggest thing that would to benefit would be job performance. Europeans, the British included, traditionally, have mastered the art of combining their professional and personal lives to achieve a sense of harmony, thus the work to live mentality. For me personally, work-life balance is an art I haven’t mastered. I have attempted many times to “put down the crackberry” and spend time with my family or doing things I enjoy. The British have this down and through the magic of assimilation I believe I would take home some of those traits. Ultimately, the ability to manage my career and the stresses it brings with family life would pay dividends in the performance of my daily duties as well as in my personal life. In the May, 2009 edition of the American Psychological Association journal, William Maddux mused that “empirical evidence suggests a general relationship between diverse experiences and enhanced creativity”. The piece centered on improvement in ones adaptability as it relates to living abroad. Based on my personal experiences living in Germany and Korea, I am inclined to agree. Melding the customs and traditions of cross cultural societies into your work ethic, coupled with the ability to adapt to different forms of management as well as being able to understand and know your fellow workers can only serve to improve a person’s ability to not only succeed, but to meet expectations in the work place.

References
United Kingdom Government. (April 9, 2014). Tier 2 (General Visa). Retrieved from the Gov.UK website: https://www.gov.uk/tier-2-general
Work Permit website. (March 19, 2013). UK immigration minister announces changes to Tier 2 visa system. Retrieved from the Workpermit website: http://www.workpermit.com/news/2013-03-19/uk-immigration-minister-announces-changes-to-tier-2-visa-system
American Expats. (UNK). Taxes. Retrieved from the American Expats website: http://www.americanexpats.co.uk/taxes.htm
HM Revenue and Customs. (2014). Income Tax Rates and Allowances. Retrieved from the UK Revenue and Customs website: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/rates/it.htm
Bankrate. (2014). Tax Brackets. Retrieved from the Bankrate.com website: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/taxes/tax-brackets.aspx
The Guardian. (2010). How does US healthcare compare to the rest of the world? Retrieved from the Guardian news website: http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/mar/22/us-healthcare-bill-rest-of-world-obama
Allianz. (2014). Healthcare in the UK. Retrieved from the Allianz Healthcare website: http://www.allianzworldwidecare.com/healthcare-in-the-uk?choice=en
UK National Health Services (NHS). (February 10, 2013). Information for visitors to England. Retrieved from the NHS website: http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/AboutNHSservices/uk-visitors/Pages/accessing-nhs-services.aspx
Work Permit website. (July 22, 2013). UK announces immigration proposals for Tier 2 visa employers. Retrieved from the Workpermit website: http://www.workpermit.com/news/2013-07-22/uk-announces-immigration-proposals-fortier-2-visa-employers
Maddux, W. and Galinsky, A. (May, 2009). Cultural Borders and Mental Barriers: The Relationship Between Living Abroad and Creativity. Retrieved from the SUNY-ESF website: http://www.esf.edu/international/documents/CulturalBordersandMentalBarriers_livingabroadandcreativity.pdf