AIRINC (Associates for International Research, Inc.)

In 2014, I moved to Brussels to study business engineering at the Solvay Management School. Five years later, I found myself holding a Master’s degree, and I saw a wide range of possibilities before me. Luckily, I was in contact with a recruiter who put me in touch with a company with a mysterious name: AIRINC.

In the bustling and colourful city of Accra, there is much to offer expatriates including a variety of recreation, shopping, and culinary exploration. While Accra has kept up with some Western customs, it lacks an abundance of Western clothing options.

In May 2020, I conducted a remote housing survey of Stockholm. I read extensively about Sweden’s herd-immunity approach to COVID-19 and how the government is not enforcing business closures.

AIRINC recently conducted rental market updates across Europe and Asia and, in many places, life was getting back to normal.

Due to COVID-19, many markets that have recently been driven by short-term lettings ala Airbnb have had to reverse course. The short-term rental markets in Prague, Dublin, Madrid, Barcelona, Reykjavik, and many others have transitioned back to long-term rentals as a result of closed borders and a drastic reduction in demand.

The impact of COVID-19 on the Beijing and Guangzhou rental markets is somewhat similar. When new international assignees were restricted from entering the cities, the demand for expatriate-quality housing dropped and rents became more negotiable, like many other large business hubs across Asia.

Prior to the current pandemic, a 2018 study by GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com highlighted that just 3.6% of the United States labor force worked remotely 50% or more of the time. 

The term “Third Culture Kids” refers to children raised in a culture other than their parents' or the culture of the country named on their passport. You may not have heard of this term before, but many children can find themselves in this situation – job opportunities, especially in the technical or engineering field, are often global and expatriation is common. 

Cost of living index adjustment is driven by changes in the purchasing power of an assignee in the host location. The purchasing power is based on both the exchange rate and inflation, relative between the home and host countries.

Over the last two years as an AIRINC Research Analyst, I’ve gotten accustomed to the multifaceted approach we take for our quarterly data collection. New assignments are allocated every three months and we fall into a familiar rhythm.