EXPATRIATE COMPENSATION IN HISTORICAL-PERSPECTIVE

In 1970, over 80% of the time of international personnel professionals in United States-based multinationals was spent on the management of expatriate assignments. Over 70% was devoted to expatriate compensatio n (National Foreign Trade Council, 1970). In 1992, the proportion of t ime devoted to expatriate compensation and benefits by headquarters in ternational human resources staffs was still a striking 54% (Reynolds, 1992). Today, HR involvement in expatriate compensation remains very high, but ten percent of U.S.-based companies have outsourced the func tion and another nine percent are considering doing so (Windham Intern ational/National Foreign Trade Council, 1996). This article will discu ss briefly why expatriate compensation has been such an ail consuming subject for international human resources professionals, trace the dev elopment of the most common compensation methodologies, assess the cur rent state of the field, and suggest some strategies for the future.