International telecommute. How rare? (insurance, home, to live)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Is the practice of telecommuting internationally very rare? Does it even exist?
By this I don't mean jobs that were outsourced to India - but say, an American employee who has a job in the US, then he has to relocate overseas for whatever pressing reason, but wants to keep his job with his company in the US by telecommuting.
Is this something one could reasonably expect to happen? Have you personally heard of such a situation? Would a US company accept such a scenario if the employee offered to take a significant pay cut and fly over whenever his physical presence would be imperative?
In what fields would such a scenario be most likely to happen?
(Obviously, all such work would have to be heavily, if not entirely, computer-based).
Yes, I know someone who works for an oil company in Houston but lives in Prague. She travels 2-3 x a year to US for a week or so, then go back to Prague.
I know people who have done it as well. I think it depends on your job and your company's comfort level with telecommuting in general. If they like telecommuting but expect you to be within a distance to pop in for last minute meetings then obviously it wouldn't work. But if your interaction with other people in your company can all be accomplished by email and phone, then I'm not sure it would be an issue. I actually know one person who did it without their company even knowing about it, but he had already been telecommuting from the US. I wouldn't expect you'd need to suggest a pay cut, but rather that you would cover your own travel expenses. The people I know who did it did writing and data entry.
I suppose it's a discussion you need to broach with your employer.
I know people who have done it as well. I think it depends on your job and your company's comfort level with telecommuting in general. If they like telecommuting but expect you to be within a distance to pop in for last minute meetings then obviously it wouldn't work. But if your interaction with other people in your company can all be accomplished by email and phone, then I'm not sure it would be an issue. I actually know one person who did it without their company even knowing about it, but he had already been telecommuting from the US. I wouldn't expect you'd need to suggest a pay cut, but rather that you would cover your own travel expenses. The people I know who did it did writing and data entry.
I suppose it's a discussion you need to broach with your employer.
It's hard not to wonder how long such a position would last - assuming, of course, the employee would fly back, once a year or so, on his/her own money.
It's hard not to wonder how long such a position would last - assuming, of course, the employee would fly back, once a year or so, on his/her own money.
His situation was definitely unique, but most jobs you really wouldn't want to attempt to do such a thing on the sly!
I think if you prove to your company that you can telecommute from your home now, they may be open to the idea down the road. If you're really determined to live abroad, you may want to see if you have options open to you with other companies, too.
Is the practice of telecommuting internationally very rare? Does it even exist?
Is this something one could reasonably expect to happen? Have you personally heard of such a situation? Would a US company accept such a scenario if the employee offered to take a significant pay cut and fly over whenever his physical presence would be imperative?
In what fields would such a scenario be most likely to happen?
(Obviously, all such work would have to be heavily, if not entirely, computer-based).
Thank you for any input.
Here in Malaysia I knew another American who sold insurance over the telephone. Neither her employer nor her clients knew that she was overseas. She could call them during normal hours since there is a 12-hour time difference between the US East Coast timezone and Malaysia. So, when it was 6-9pm in the USA, it was 6-9am here. Her employer banked her money into a US-based account and never needed to talk with her except through the telephone. Skype makes this easy.
It's hard not to wonder how long such a position would last - assuming, of course, the employee would fly back, once a year or so, on his/her own money.
Person I know is doing it for few years already, and come over to US 2-3 times a year for a week or so. The company pays all expensed.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
