Dive Brief:
- More than half of employers with pre-pandemic global expansion plans remain generally undeterred despite the resulting economic downturn, according to survey results from Globalization Partners and CFO Research released June 25.
- In a survey of 166 senior finance executives at companies with international expansion plans, 45% of respondents said they are either moving forward with expansion plans or delaying less than a year. Another 9% said they still intend to expand internationally but "remain in a year-long holding pattern."
- Respondents also identified employee health and safety as a top expansion concern — cited nearly twice as much as other issues like devising new business strategies, increasing sales pipeline and revenue, and reducing organizational costs, according to the organizations’ press release.
Dive Insight:
As employers braced for the pandemic’s predicted economic fallout, those that undertook cost-cutting measures most often responded with hiring freezes and reduced hiring, according to a March 30 Willis Towers Watson report. Some also reported wage freezes and delayed raises.
But as the crisis dragged on, employers have had to revisit long-term plans. For some, that meant mass layoffs; others say they’ve abandoned office life permanently.
And as this most recent report shows, some have reconsidered global expansion plans, with many still intending to move forward. That tracks with a March report from Velocity Global that found tech employers in the U.S. and U.K. continuing with international growth plans despite the pandemic.
The finding that employee health and safety is a top concern also aligns with recommendations that global employers view employee well-being as a priority. In a May report on mental health from the Business Group on Health, the organization outlined how such efforts can improve productivity and business performance. Careful, deliberate efforts are needed, however: "It is often difficult for the corporate office to understand the nuances that take place at the local level," Kathleen O'Driscoll, vice president at Business Group on Health, said in a statement. "These nuances are particularly important for mental health, where misunderstandings and fears are abundant."
