The U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis did a survey that counted U.S. citizens on permanent payroll working overseas for U.S. multinational corporations. A solid figure on overseas employment simply does not yet exist, says Bill Sheridan, director of international compensation services at the National Foreign Trade Council. But we think there is probably at least a half a million. One way to reduce the anxieties, and enhance the experiences and effectiveness on the job, is to provide globally oriented education while folks are still in school. That's part of the reason UC and higher education in general have stepped up efforts to give students global exposure.
Students receive intense cultural and language preparation before leaving on their assignments.
The program is expanding into Spanish this spring. Those with international experience will be in greater and greater demand. With the phenomenal increase in the use of the Internet in commerce and communication, there's every reason to think that there will be a similar increase in international careers. It's going to become more of an expectation that you will work overseas. He also foresees that more and more, American workers' overseas destinations will be in Third World nations.