The COVID-19 pandemic is presenting us all with a period of great uncertainty. One thing we have learned from past crises is that we will likely experience economic volatility, including wide exchange rate swings and abnormal patterns of inflation. While these are early days, we have already measured higher rates of inflation in China, as well as significant fluctuations in major currencies. In addition, living conditions have worsened for many across the globe. It is likely economic volatility and restricted lifestyles will be with us for some time.

Japanese consumption tax is an indirect tax on goods and services, similar to value-added or sales taxes. Tax increases in Japan are notoriously unpopular and changes to the consumption tax have faced long delays and political battles. On October 1, the general consumption tax rate in Japan was raised from 8% to 10%, with a secondary tax tier of 8% for food products meant to be consumed at home. This increase had been delayed multiple times since its initial implementation date in 2015. The last consumption tax increase, from 5% to 8% in 2014, had been the first in 17 years.

The demand for a wider array of mobility approaches at different price points requires the flexibility to access allowances and evaluate policy options in an efficient way. The International Assignment Calculator aggregates allowances such as Cost of living allowance (COLA), housing, tax, hardship, and more – in one place. Learn more by watching the video below:

Are you reactive or proactive? A couple of months ago, Jessica Caligan shared how companies are using proactive communication strategies to enhance employee experience on international assignments.

We are excited to announce the addition of this complimentary report, available exclusively on our International Assignment Calculator. You can proactively enhance the assignee experience through a more transparent and personalized communication.

When an expatriate’s home country currency weakens, what do you do? In my recent post, I talked about the importance of initiating an increase in their goods and services allowance because the employee’s salary portion, meant to be spent on their market basket, will no longer go as far once converted into their host currency.

Now that we've reached the Final 4 teams, we started thinking about practical prices for those that are traveling to the city. What's the cost of getting to the stadium? How much are hotels? What are you going to pay for dinner? Below are the prices from our Short-term Allowance Calculator for Lyon, France:

Communication and the Employee Experience are two interconnected themes that continue to dominate today’s mobility conversation.

Communicating critical information and setting expectations for assignees and business partners are key to creating successful assignments. To ensure the information gets through inbox clutter, global mobility leaders are incorporating newer, more tech-savvy ways to communicate with both employees and internal business partners.

When transferring assignees from low wage to high cost locations, many companies are confronted with this challenge: even with a COLA, their lowest wage assignees don’t have sufficient purchasing power in the host location, especially in comparison to their fellow expats and local peers.