MORE companies are turning to short-term overseas assignments for their staff as they find these stints too costly and time-consuming to administer, according to a global survey by KPMG.

The survey on 2007 Global Assignment Policies and Practices, carried out by KPMG LLP, the audit, tax and advisory firm, polled 348 human resources executive worldwide.

Results show that globalisation is forcing companies to reexamine their international assignment programmes.

Nearly half (49 per cent) of the respondents said international assignments "take too much time and effort to administer," up slightly from last year's results of 48 per cent.

Forty per cent of them also thought their international assignment programmes are "more generous than they need to be," compared to 38 per cent in 2006.

'Despite the weakening value of the US dollar, companies have legitimate business reasons to keep investing in international assignments, but it's no surprise that companies also are looking to trim assignment expenses,' said Achim Mossmann, managing director of Global Mobility Advisory Services in the International Executive Services practice of KPMG LLP.

'International assignments are here to stay, so the most forward looking companies would be wise to develop ways to administer them more cost effectively using technology and conducting extensive pre-planning due diligence.'

Upward trend

The number of companies sending international assignees on short-term assignments continues to trend upward, with 80 per cent of those surveyed going for this option.

According to the results of KPMG's Extended Business Traveller-Short Term Assignment Survey (EBT-STA Survey) announced in September 2007, 38 per cent of corporate respondents in that survey expected their use of STAs to increase over the next 18 months.

'The increasing number of short term assignments supports the notion that we are in the midst of a paradigm shift in which we see more companies operating globally,' said Ben Garfunkel, national partner in charge of KPMG LLP's International Executive Services (IES) practice.

'As more companies transition to a global approach and conduct more business in regions all over the world, international assignment programs need to change to fulfil the business needs required to move their workforce globally. This requires flexible yet consistent policies to ensure competitiveness as well as compliance.'

Outsourcing

The latest survey also found that more mid-sized companies now turn to outsourcing to help manage their international assignment programmes.

Among companies with US $500 million or less in revenue, the programme functions that are commonly outsourced include tax compliance (78 per cent), assignment orientation sessions related to tax (72 per cent), and immigration/work permit assistance (67 per cent).

When asked to select the top reason for outsourcing, 78 per cent of companies in this revenue range cited the access to a service provider's global resources and expertise and 21 per cent said it was to improve service quality and efficiency.

'With increased globalisation, companies need to better understand how their international assignment programs will be impacted and how these programmes can be utilized to meet their changing business needs,' said Mr Mossmann.

'They may be leaving money on the table if they are slow to adopt techniques that could systematically achieve greater costs efficiencies and fail to see return on investment as a key goal for their assignment programmes.'

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