This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: New research challenges the idea that career shocks are bad news for expatriate workers, finding that major personal, professional or societal disruptions can instead act as a catalyst for adaptation and resilience. In a study published in The International Journal of Human Resource Management, researchers from The University of Western Australia found expats who responded proactively to career shocks were significantly more likely to bounce back and report sustainable, satisfying global careers in the long run.
Renata Casado from the UWA Business School said career shocks were disruptive and often unexpected events that could occur at the individual, organizational or institutional level, changing a person's career direction or priorities. "At the individual level, it may be a personal life event like marriage, divorce or separation, having a child, a partner's job relocation, or health issues affecting the expat themselves or someone close to them," Casado said. "They're the kinds of issues that often force expats to rethink their career, family and lifestyle priorities." Organizational-level career shocks could include restructures, redundancies, leadership changes, loss of a key mentor, company downturns or ethical scandals—all events that could disrupt career plans by removing opportunities or creating new ones.
"At the institutional level, it may be things like economic downturns or disruptions to the labor market, geopolitical tensions, political uncertainty, changes in immigration policy or pandemics," Casado said. "These large-scale economic, political or social events can reshape people's careers by directly affecting jobs, visa pathways, residency prospects and career opportunities." The study set out to examine whether there was any difference in how "assigned expatriates"—employees sponsored by their company to live and work in another country—responded to career shocks compared with "self-initiated expatriates," who independently moved and built careers overseas. "After surveying more than 150 expats of both kinds, we found that rather than derailing people's global career prospects, disruptive events can strengthen careers long-term," Casado said.
"Overall, the most important factor was whether they responded proactively by doing things like reassessing their goals and priorities and developing new career plans, upskilling or retraining, expanding their networks, or relocating internationally." "These kinds of proactive career behaviors were seen in both groups but were more common in assigned expats, who were more likely to have access to organizational support systems and alternative opportunities within the organization." Casado said the lesson for expat employees was that when a career shock occurred, they shouldn't assume they had to simply "get back on track." "A disruption can be a useful point to reassess your priorities, the opportunities available to you, and whether your current career direction still makes sense." For human resources professionals managing mobile workforces, the lesson was that supporting global mobility was about more than getting people successfully into an assignment. "Career support, internal mobility pathways, development opportunities and networks are more important than ever when a shock hits an individual and can provide the resources that enable employees to respond constructively when circumstances change," Casado said. She said the findings were particularly pertinent in Australia, which relied on skilled migration to help meet workforce needs.
"Bringing skilled workers into the country does not guarantee we will retain their skills," Casado said. "Our findings suggest we need to think beyond recruitment and visas to what happens to migrants' careers once they are here. Career opportunities, organizational support and pathways that help people become embedded in the Australian labor market can matter when their circumstances change." "For a country competing globally for skilled workers, the question is not only how we attract talent, but how we create the conditions for that talent to build sustainable careers in Australia." Renata Casado et al, Career shocks and the sustainability of global careers: a mixed-methods study of assigned and self-initiated expatriates, The International Journal of Human Resource Management (2026).
DOI: 10.1080/09585192.2026.2723321 , www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/1 … 9585192.2026.2723321 Provided by University of Western Australia Swati Mestri holds a bachelor's degree in Electronics Engineering and has worked as a content editor since 2019. She has experience editing research documents across technology, health care, and materials science, and has a particular interest in technology and space. Full profile → Master's in physics with research experience.
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