3 more or less surprising things about USA expats and employment

Are you among those expats who had little trouble starting their expatriate lives in the United States? If yes, you are lucky! According to a survey powered by InterNations on expats worldwide, only 23% are pleased with their jobs. Yet 54% believe in opportunity, according to a report issued by ExpatExplorer. When we narrow our interest list to the USA expats only, the number is even lower. You can imagine, simple math! So, ladies and gents, you’re not the only ones waiting for a better career prospect or a more satisfying job. Why this is happening can be cut out of a collage. There are numerous factors acting together, both economical and psychological, but that’s another story…

Let’s see what we found out about expat employment in the USA, so that you can pin yourself on the employment map of choices and preferences.

#1 Half of all the working USA expats are 35 to 54

Photo by Valeriy Khan on Unsplash

As documented by ExpatExplorer online magazine, there are 3 major age groups of working expats in the USA, no matter the ethnic group. People aged 18-34 who are legally employed cover 21% of all the USA expats, while the other extreme are the 56+ who are unexpectedly diligent and adaptive. They even surpass the percentage of the working expat youth with 3%. How unexpected is that!

But the grand majority, more exactly 56% of the expat employees in the USA, are 35 to 54 years old. Are we talking about a wise-age expat majority? Technically yes. 

#2 Of all USA expats, 73% believe in “the land of opportunity”

“Opportunity” is the keyword that many USA expats use to talk about their motivation to move. Whether they came for economical reasons or study first work later, the word “opportunity” echoes strongly in their hearts. All is possible! Even for those who made the compromise of a job-whatsoever when they arrived to the USA, hoping for a better job in the future, one that is more relevant for their potential or background. Or one that is more well paid.

Photo by Eduardo Santos on Unsplash

Career progression is something the USA expats understand fast, and something that many native Americans don’t appreciate enough maybe, since there is no comparison with any other system. So, don’t blame anyone, there is a cause in each case!

#3 USA is not among the 10 best countries for expats to work in

After reading the Independent.co.uk study published in January 2017 in the life-style section on their website, we draw one big conclusion. The USA does not excel as an “employer” for expats. Especially in such employment areas like average salary, work culture, work-life balance. When it comes to these aspects, the USA  falls way beyond Switzerland, Singapore and United Arab Emirates for example. Anyone against the statistics?

Photo by Ron Jake Roque on Unsplash

The majority of the expats who use MobileRecharge.com to top up their families’ cellular phones, live in the USA. In a contest on the 4th of July, some of the reasons they moved here for were: freedom of thought and action, diverse work opportunities that would give USA expats a choice vs. no choice, and the tolerance level for multi-ethnicity. Pretty easy to get that!

Drawing the line…

The majority of the the USA expats registered in the working system are adults whose age ranges between 35-54. Yet, there is also a youth category, but adult expats are more welcomed somehow.

A low percentage of the expats in the USA are satisfied with their job or career path. But that does not exclude hope and their choice to move in the States. The motivational factor, that is. Many of the USA expats, 73% more precisely, choose to move here due to an open culture, besides proximity reasons. “The land of the opportunity” is still trendy among expats, whatever the natives may believe. And trust us, opinions are split among pros, cons and in-between or neutral.

Many of the USA expats we know, use MobileRecharge.com or MobileRecharge app to send airtime to their relatives and friends in the motherland. If you  need to try it yourself, get ready first:

• Have ready the prepaid phone number you want to recharge
• Any PayPal account or are you using a major USA credit/debit card? Great! You’ll need that online.
• Take few seconds to go through the online form. Oh, co contract needed, so… relax and continue.