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inclusion: Accommodating spouses/partners
:
Employment at the Center
key issues affecting Center-employment of spouses/PARTNERS
Expatriate
spouses/partners
1 There is often a perception that expatriate spouses/partners – particularly
of internationally recruited staff – are in a privileged position.
Their family incomes and perks are not only quite superior to the average
in the country where they are located, they are also superior to those
of their support staff.
2 However, when it comes to employment in a foreign country, expatriate spouses/partners are often in an exceptionally disadvantaged position:
- they may not have a work permit;
- even if they do have a work permit, they may be excluded from nationally recruited positions at their Center if the host country agreement requires nationally recruited staff to hold citizenship of that country, not just a work permit;
- there may be very limited opportunities to engage in their profession or discipline, other than at their spouse’s/partner’s Center;
- even where the above factors are not an impediment, expatriates may not speak the local language or not speak it well enough to function effectively in a local workplace; and
- there may be significant cultural barriers (e.g. the acceptability or otherwise of women in the workforce) to taking up work in the duty station country.
3 Consequently they become “trailing spouses” – spouses whose own professional careers, maintenance of professional skills and access to professional development and networking have to be put on-hold indefinitely. This is not a recipe for long-term happiness.
4 In recognition of the circumstances above, several Centers have created direct (i.e. non-competitive) employment opportunities at the Center for spouses/partners. However “special employment” systems created solely for expatriates have potential to cause considerable dissent among nationally recruited staff. This is particularly the case where there are high levels of unemployment in the duty station country, especially in cultures where the breadwinner typically supports not only her/his immediate family but also her/his extended family.
Distant spouses
5 Local employment can also be difficult for distant spouses/partners – the
spouses/partners of nationally recruited staff who have moved to the
duty station from a significant distance. They may be unfamiliar with
local employment opportunities, they may have left behind their local
professional networks and they may have professional, technical or administrative
training for which there is little or no demand in the vicinity of the
duty station. Consequently, if they have training and skills that the
Center could gainfully employ at the duty station, Centers should consider
possibilities for their direct appointment.
Local spouses
6 Local spouses/partners of nationally recruited staff – those
who were already located at, or in the vicinity of, the duty station – face
fewer impediments to employment than either expatriate or distant spouses.
However, if they are located in an area where there is little or no demand
for their professional, technical or administrative skills, and if the
Center could gainfully employ them at the duty station, it makes sense
to consider possibilities for direct appointment.
Accommodate all spouses, not just expatriate spouses
7 Consequently, where non-competitive
appointments and consultancies are part of a Center’s set of options
to accommodate spouses/partners, the policies should accommodate distant
and local spouses as well as expatriate spouses.
OPTIONS FOR CENTER EMPLOYMENT
8 The principle options for employing spouses/partners
at a Center include the following (which are explained further in Tips
and Tools):
- direct appointment – the selection of spouses/partners to fill an ongoing position, without competition;
- consultancies;
- fellowships;
- appointment to advertised vacancies;
- couple appointments.
Creating a database of spouse/partner CVs and competency summaries
9 From time to time, Centers need to make short-term appointments or
consultancies, often at short notice. Given the typically high standard
of education and training of international spouses/partners, and national
spouses/partners of nationally recruited professional staff, it is
quite likely that some of those needs could be met from within the
spouse/partner population. However, if a Center has no structured record
of spouses’/partners’ competencies, it makes it difficult
to tap this potential resource.
10 Accordingly, such Centers should consider establishing a database of spouses’/partners’ competencies relevant to their potential needs that also can include abbreviated cvs. The key is to make these databases simple to search, otherwise people will not use them.
Alerting spouses/partners to consultancy opportunities at the Center
11 If a Center is able and willing to offer consultancy opportunities
to spouses/partners, the question arises as to how spouses/partners
can find out about these opportunities.
12 Some form of direct contact between the Center and the spouses/partners is desirable. It is not sufficient to send out a broadcast e-mail to all staff, on the assumption that the content will be relayed to interested and eligible spouse’s/partner’s by the staff member (i.e. the spouse’s spouse). If the staff member is absent on lengthy duty travel, the spouse/partner finds out too late.
13 However, if the Center has established a database, Center staff can scan the database for a match between consultancy requirements and spouse/partner competencies and contact possible matching spouses/partners directly.
14 Another option is to create an e-mail list of spouses/partners interested in consultancies. A broadcast e-mail to Center staff about a consultancy could be broadcast to members of the spouse/partner list at the same time.
© CGIAR Gender & Diversity
Program 2006