International itinerants, although being referred to as self-managed professionals with a tendency to change employers quite frequently, are an important source for staffing. In line with more traditional expatriates, international itinerants can bring great value to MNCs, and can offer some advantages to employers that could not be offered by traditional assignees.
International Itinerants: a New Breed of Expatriates?
Traditional expatriate classifications apply to a conventional framework of employment where the individual’s career is meant to be fixed with one, or very few, employers. However, in the past few decades the traditional career path has been changing, and by now one’s successful career is a matter of personal responsibility, initiative, and is quite likely to go beyond one organization. A new breed of expatriates, the so called ‘international itinerants’, has emerged.