The meaning of the word "expat". Who is an expat. Expat is ...

In modern life, words are rapidly breaking into words, of which only a few have heard before. Expat is one such word. But what does it mean? Let's try to find out.

Who are expats?

Expat (expat) is an English term, which is an abbreviation for expatriate and meaning "being outside the homeland". Expatriates used to be called people who had been forced to leave the country for which they were citizens for a long time, or even for good. Often, this procedure was accompanied by the deprivation of citizenship. In our time, the meaning of the word expat acquired a less severe color and became the slang name of foreign specialists realizing their labor potential outside their own country. So the Kyrgyz janitors, marking the pavements of Moscow, are also, in a sense, expats.

Although, speaking of the expats, they usually have in mind not cleaners of the streets. As a rule, the expat is a first-rate highly paid specialist, often a leader specially invited to work abroad.

Expats in the world

In the world, the expat is a familiar phenomenon: it is natural for a person to seek a place where he lives better. But many states, interested in the influx of skilled labor, are almost competing among themselves in attracting expats. In 2013 the most attractive for foreign specialists was a number of Asian countries. In search of a better fate, foreigners increasingly opted for themselves actively developing Singapore and China, Thailand and Taiwan. Moreover, these countries attracted hired specialists not only by more comfortable working conditions, but also by a better quality of life: a warm climate, ease of social integration, etc. Russia is not the worst place for expats, where the labor force "from behind the hill" To appear from the 90s of the last century.

Foreigners in the Russian Federation

Russia among the expats is indeed considered a successful state for earning and building a career. But not only finance attracts workers here from the outside: expats in Russia come across different. Leaving the familiar world and changing the habitat is not so easy as it may seem. This requires a serious motivation, and not in all cases is money.

Most often, the expat is a rather young man, whose views on life still have a fair share of romance. Someone sincerely dreams of making the world a better place and considers his work in Russia an important step on the road to universal harmony. But there is an opposite example: lonely, well-earning guys, living a life in the company of numerous women, are trying in an alien country to create an endless holiday for themselves. Any lover of travel, coming to Russia for only a few months, can fall in love and stay here for a long time. But someone was forced to move after the already settled in Moscow husband or wife. Sometimes an expat is someone who has had to leave his country because of personal problems or the inability to achieve tangible success in it. And still there is a special type of expatriates coming to Russia, as they say, with the Bible and on bare feet. As a rule, these people work in non-governmental, charitable or religious organizations, their mission is to create all kinds of good deeds, and earnings in this case are already on the back burner.

Foreigners and business

And yet most foreigners come to Russia for material reasons. Basically, they work under contract in prestigious foreign companies - most often in banking or construction, consulting and advertising, media business and design. Also, many expats are building their careers in the oil business and in a number of scientific fields. Sometimes an expat is a civil servant who works in a consulate or embassy. Almost all these people, in addition to high wages, are provided with a solid social package, including inexpensive housing, free flights and other joys of life, often inaccessible in their homeland.

But, despite the visible advantages, the life of expats in Russia can not always be called benevolent. Affects the difference of mentalities, it is not always possible to get the usual service in medicine and communal. Well, sometimes expats ... just hated.

Why do not they like the expat

For individual Russian managers, the expats are comparable to the red rag for a bull. Foreigners-colleagues, as a rule, do not like; Foreign chiefs - even more so. There are many reasons for this: from a significant difference in earnings to mental differences. True, the level of wages can only be guessed - this information is usually kept secret. But the behavioral differences are obvious, and this often leads to strained relations in the team. Russian colleagues usually condemn foreign managers for not wanting to learn the language and follow the traditions accepted in Russia. The expat leader is often an object of special dislike. The subordinates accuse their chief-foreigner of completely ignoring the Russian rules of conduct and of imposing work on their own laws to others. The expat-leader usually likes ambitious, aspiring employees, and in Russia these same qualities, rather, are perceived as negative. Foreigners try not to confuse business and personal, in Russia it is a common phenomenon, as well as informal relations between leaders and subordinates.

True, and the expats have something to say about the Russians. They often accuse their local colleagues of neglecting business ethics, low productivity of their work, other sins incompatible with foreign ideas of good work. It is difficult to say which of the conflicting sides is true. Although it is fair to say that in the world practice the attitude to foreign managers is usually much more loyal than to fellow expats in Russian corporations.

So who is the expat

In the present era of globalism, the movement of people from country to country is a natural and inevitable phenomenon. Millions of Russians in search of a better fate have left their homeland for years or forever, and somewhere in America or Europe, Asia or Australia are now also called expats. Perhaps they are satisfied with their material well-being, but are they always happy with local bread? Are they spiritually in the environment, did the local traditions taste to taste, did they understand with their colleagues?

However, each man builds his own life, he also pays the bills if he made a mistake. But it is important to remember: the expat is a person! Similar to others or not, observing local traditions or living in its own way, it is still worthy of respect from those who are close. Let's learn to understand each other!