 In this topic, we are going to discuss about the role of non expatriates. Now this is a very interesting term and a very interesting concept. We have always been discussing about expatriates or impatriates in international human resource assignments. And this is a type of international assignment which is neither the assignment of expatriate or that of impatriates. So it is something which is very interesting and when I will talk about it, you will realize that yes, these are people who actually do a lot of work in international assignments, but we haven't really talked about them. So what are non expatriates? Non expatriates are employees who do not relocate to another country but are on constant international travel. So you may have heard that people who are working in multinational organizations or who are working in organizations who have export function for example and do not have any kind of subsidiary in another country. There are a lot of people who go on these international travel assignments and keep going on these international travel assignments very frequently. So for example, in Pakistan there are a number of textile organizations who sell abroad, who sell in America, who sell in Europe, who sell in China, who sell in a number of places because Pakistan has got really good fabric quality. So there are a number of people who are on constant international travel, who are looking for new clients and serving the current ones and they do not actually relocate or move to another country but they keep on moving on international assignments and keep on travelling continuously. These people they spend time visiting foreign markets, subsidiary units and international projects. So they are on a constant commute from their home country to various different places because of the nature of their job. For example, if there is a technical skill which is required to be fulfilled at various different plants that are located in different countries and it is not really important to have a fixed permanent position in each of that subsidiary plant, then one person may be given this position to move around various different plants that are located in different countries to be filling up that technical gap and it is also possible that that technical skill is not available in those host countries respectively and therefore a person from the parent country needs to continuously go on international assignments to fulfill that technical gap over there. So there could be a number of reasons why the multinational organization would hire people who are on continuous international travel. So there are very interesting popular terms for these people who are on continuously international travel. They are called road warriors, they are called globe trotters, they are called frequent flyers and they are called flex patriots as well. So these are very interesting terms for them flex patriot because they are not ex-patriots and they are not actually permanently residing in the home country either. So they are moving around, so they are called flex patriot and globe trotters, they trot the globe all over. So these are the different interesting terms that are given to these non ex-patriots. Most of these non ex-patriots are given international sales assignments and these are international sales representatives. So you know that sales representatives are always on a continuous travel. So domestic sales representatives are also continuously traveling from one city to the other or if they are based in one city they are traveling from one client to the other. So sales work is continuously moving around. So when you take it to the international level, international sales representatives go on a global assignment and then that is why they are continuously flying and moving around. So these people they attend trade fairs, they visit foreign agents and distributors, they demonstrate new products to potential clients and they negotiate the sales contract. So these are various different assignments that they do in their international travel. But this type of assignment is really something which is challenging, which is demanding and which can be done by somebody who is really fit, physically fit a person who is not physically fit will not be able to travel continuously because you know there are so many issues of travel and then jet lags and all that. So there are a number of stresses for these non ex-patriot people although it may sound very exciting that you are moving around the entire globe but it becomes really stressful when it becomes a continuous part of your life. So there are a number of stresses that come across that these people they come across. Number one is for home and family issues. These people they cannot definitely settle down and they cannot stay at one place and definitely in order to have a peaceful and successful home and family life it is important that the person is present over there. So if the person is not present then definitely the spouse and the children they are going to feel the absence of the person and that is going to cause different type of issues and stress for the family life. Then various work arrangements they can serve as a stressor. The domestic side of the job that has to be attended. So these people who are on the international travel continuously they are also they have a domestic job a fixed job which they have to serve in the place where they are permanently located. So there is a lot of clash and there is a lot of demand from the domestic job as well as the international assignments. And then what happens is that in today's time because of the technological advancement people can be you know they can be contacted. They can be accessed. They can be sent emails and documents and everything while they are on travel. They can be sitting on an airport and getting a call from their home base and in which they have got to solve some crisis which is happening over there. So it becomes although it improves the efficiency of the people it becomes really demanding and challenging for them to be managing so many things at one time. Then another stressor is that of travel logistics these people they have to manage airline connections hotel accommodations and meeting schedules and there isn't any routine. It's possible that you may be coming out of the flight at 12 a.m. and then you've got to meet a client at 6 in the morning or 7 in the morning because because of the time differences. According to your schedule at 6 a.m. in the morning but according to the country that you've gone in that is something that is 10 a.m. in the morning. So for you it is going to be really difficult to you know manage all these schedules. So that leads to a number of health concerns because if you are on a continuous travel you've got poor diet you cannot have an exercise routine. There is lack of sleep then you have to cope with jet lag and then there could be exposure to viruses and other health problems. For example a person who continuously travels they face deep vein thrombosis which is something which is which can be pretty difficult to then manage. So these are all the things which are which can become an issue and a concern for health for people who are in expatriate assignments. And then finally host culture issues are stresses for these non expatriates because studies show that these non expatriates they are not given cultural awareness training as the expatriates are given. Expatriates who are sent to foreign locations for a permanent job in a for longer period of time they are given this cultural awareness training. But these non expatriate people they are expected to learn it on their own and it is something which is neglected in terms of these people. So they are supposed to know about the host country culture and it's something which becomes which could become a major stressor for them if they are not familiar and knowledgeable about the culture of the host country. So these are the various different stresses that non expatriate employees they may be facing and therefore the organization needs to take care of these non expatriate employees because they are doing a very important job for the organization. And for that it must be taken into account that a person must be really physically fit so that he or she can take all this stress and be able to cope with these particular stresses.