Back in 2007 when we were still being led to believe that the housing market in the UK would continue to boom and the economy was in fine fettle, one in four office workers were dreaming of escape, according to Norwich Union anyway. The insurer’s research at the time revealed that up to a quarter of the British workforce wanted to take a career break and spend time overseas.
Options these people were considering were anything and everything from a paid sabbatical to unpaid leave, but because job security used to be so important and almost tangible, few out of those who wanted to make a temporary move overseas seemed to make it happen.
Nowadays everything is different – we’re living in a time where we can take nothing for granted in terms of money and work, and where the state of the economy is causing people to suffer financially as well as physically and emotionally as a result of the stress we’re all under. Therefore it is of no surprise that still many office workers in the UK dream of escape. So instead of just sitting there and gazing out of the window and dreaming of pastures new, you could use recession or redundancy to live abroad…and here’s how…
If you’re facing unemployment or if your company is asking for volunteers to come forward for redundancy, you could look into the financial advantages of such a situation or offer. If you really do want to live and work abroad or just travel overseas for an extended period then the first thing you need is money – and the second thing is job security! But at the moment the latter is almost impossible to secure, so going for the former is at least a positive step in the right direction. If your job is unsafe anyway, and you’re not all that bothered about that, you’d rather just go abroad and live the experience you want to live, then taking the redundancy option and the financial settlement benefit could be the answer to your prayers!
If you lose your job but are not remunerated then you could be wondering what to do next – if you’re weighing up your options and you have the money behind you to get you to where you physically want to be, now could be the best time to make that move overseas. You may pick up skills and experiences on your travels that make you even more of a marketable candidate when you return, what’s more, as you have no job to return to you are not structured and limited in terms of the amount of time you can spend travelling. You make yourself more open to opportunities as a result, as you never know who you might meet abroad, and what job prospects you may encounter along the way.
If you’re working for a company and you want to stay working for that company you have two real options. You could ask for a paid sabbatical which will allow you to go and work elsewhere in the company – ideally abroad. Of course this limits where you can go and what you can do…but it is an option. Unfortunately it isn’t an option that many companies can afford to offer at the moment. With all companies cutting their overheads, sending a member of staff overseas on an expensive sojourn could be seen as wasteful. However, if you have a strong skill set that you know could benefit other offices of your company elsewhere, you could try selling your merits and seeing what your boss says.
The other option open to you is taking unpaid leave. Certain companies, BA for one, has asked some staff to volunteer for shorter working hours or to take unpaid leave. It means you reduce the financial burden on your company for a period of time in exchange for a guaranteed place of employment upon your return. You have to be pretty sure that your company will still be around upon your return to risk this option! But at the same time, you have to be pretty sure your boss won’t just say ‘well, if you want to leave that much, you’re sacked!’ You’ll just have to tread carefully and see what your real options are – and you know what they say, if you want something badly enough you can make it happen…so…maybe chance your arm!
There are many wonderful opportunities that can be had during a time of living, working and travelling abroad. You can get involved with countless volunteer programs, or just land up somewhere new and get involved in helping the local community off your own back. You may learn new skills, practice new languages and generally come back a well-rounded individual who makes for a much better employee anyway. So, if you have the financial backing behind you and you’re up for the challenge whilst you ride out the recession overseas, we wish you all the luck in the world and would love to hear from you – we’ll even publish your experiences if you want to tell our readers about them.
