Expat Phenomenon

A career move is very often the trigger to relocate and become a stranger in a foreign country. A new location can appear attractive to an expat for many reasons.

The new position or career move, attractiveness of the city, salary on offer as well as country, culture, climate, geographic locality, infrastructure for entrepreneurs and startups or perceived image of the location.

Almost everything in their chosen city is unusual. Including language. Besides their busy lives, they need to settle in, find their way around and acquire a feel for the place. Expats have to invest in their new home.

Expatriates are international business professionals and highly trained employees. They form one of the most attractive groups of people in the world, are well educated and generally earn high incomes.

Expat Insights

Being an expat means time spent amongst strangers from another culture, more often than not in a foreign language. For some it is an everyday challenge to be overcome. It is a fascinating experience.

It can be a relatively short episode to be stored under the escapades of life. It may also be a marvellous opportunity to explore and experience a completely new environment.

The definition “expatriate” nowadays encompasses people from many walks of life and most nationalities yet the word is loaded with impressions of former days; images of the Raj in Mother India, vast sugar plantations in sticky Jamaican enclaves or thick jungles of Indochina and Africa.

Curiously, today expat is normally only used in the context of crossing cultures or language. US Americans in the UK or British citizens in the USA are not usually defined this way. Nor is an Austrian in Germany.

Assisting Expats

Most expats require assistance of one kind or other. Amazing Capitals has embraced the phenomenon and works with cities and companies to enable local expat ecosystems to function better. Companies and cities are also helped to attract and retain expats more efficiently.

By Vincent Green, Oct 7 2021