Managing global and migrant workers

The international workforce has existed since slaves built the pyramids. But international work has been increasing substantially in recent decades. With it, the interest in how to manage international workers, their talent and global careers has grown. In this chapter we are exploring key forms of international work. We use the length of international assignment as our template and concentrate on international business travellers (IBTs); short-term assignees, company-sponsored long-term expatriates (AEs), selfinitiated expatriates (SIEs) and global careerists. We also discuss immigration related mobility of labour. Throughout the text we will investigate contextual, strategic, operational and individual influences and will put a particular focus on how organizations can manage their international workers.