Hardship Evaluations

A mall in Astana, Kazakhstan as seen during an AIRINC cost of living survey. Photo taken by AIRINC surveyor Oscar Rasson.

A Cost of Living Survey in a digital world

At AIRINC, technology allows our dedicated survey staff to collect data and monitor changes through telephone and online research in conjunction with on-site surveys. We collect a wider range of data more efficiently using this multi-pronged approach, and by using an in-house research survey team, we collect the most objective, consistent pricing data.

One of many alerts posted around the V&A Waterfront Mall in Cape Town, South Africa. Photo taken by AIRINC surveyor Eugene Kobiako.

Update on the Water Crisis

AIRINC’s onsite Surveyors investigate topics of international interest, including hardship situations. My colleague, Yimkwan Tsang, wrote about the water crisis in Cape Town after her February 2018 survey. At that time, Cape Town was expected to run out of water as early as June. However, this event, known as Day Zero, kept getting pushed back. 

Aerial view of Guyana en route to the capital city, Georgetown. Photo taken by AIRINC surveyor Rose Allen.

Guyana and the Discovery of Vast Oil Deposits

During our recent survey quarter, I traveled to Georgetown, Guyana. Flying over Guyana I was struck by its rural feel and dense forests. From the air, it looked like the most untouched land I’d ever seen, and I later learned that roughly 80% of Guyana is rainforest.

Aerial view of the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya. Photo taken by AIRINC surveyor Andrew Morollo.

Tall Metal Railings and Thick Bulletproof Glass

AIRINC’s most recent survey of Nairobi closely coincided with the 5th anniversary of the Westgate Mall attack when members of the extremist Islamic group al-Shabaab took siege of the building, which resulted in 71 deaths.

Do you need a turn-key technology platform to quickly calculate international allowances? Or perhaps a configurable solution that works with your company-specific policies and data?

Political, economic, and social epicenters, but the air pollution...

Beijing and Shanghai are two of China’s most populated and active cities. They are political, economic, and social epicenters that attract a large percentage of multinational companies, and thus expatriates, in China. 

AIRINC was recently featured in the Economic Times for a quality of life analysis, The Global 150, that was published in the Harvard Business Review. 

Sometimes global mobility managers need to use hardship payments to incentivize their employees to perform critical tasks in undesirable locations. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are many pleasant places to be sent on assignment as an expatriate.