How firms can optimise their spending on expats

THE merger of International Enterprise Singapore and Spring Singapore has brought internationalisation to the forefront of Singapore's national agenda. For companies looking to expand overseas, global mobility will play a huge role in their business decisions and allocation of funding.

In our increasingly borderless world, the money spent on mobility can add up quickly - from higher pay grades pegged to expatriates to costs associated with relocating employees and, at times, their families too. Against the backdrop of a sluggish economy, many firms have revised their mobility policies, dropping allowance amounts and reducing employee benefits to cut costs.

Singapore, for example, still boasts one of the most generous salary and benefits packages in the Asia-Pacific region, but the typical expatriate package for middle managers here has fallen to a five-year low of S$313,600, according to ECA International's…