International Employment Tips - What You Must Know

Getting a hold of the proper documents to work overseas may seem like an overwhelming, frightening idea. In actuality, it's pretty easy. Here is our guide to preparing for your overseas employment opportunity.

1. Know Your Local Consulate
   If you're looking to work overseas, the consular should be your new best friend. A consular is by definition "An official appointed by a government to reside in a foreign country and represent his or her government's commercial interests and assist its citizens there (dictionary.com)." More importantly, a consular is your ticket to obtaining all the entry/residency requirements you'll need to work in that country. This is where you apply for your visa or permit. Most countries position several consulate offices in each foreign country, so you shouldn't have any trouble finding one. For instance, if you're traveling to France from Australia, you'll look up the French Embassy in Australia who can in turn point you to your local consulate office. They can be referred to as a consulate, consular, or consulate general. No matter the title, it all means the same thing to you: easily processing your international employment status.
   
2. Meet the Embassy
   A country's main presence in a foreign country is often an embassy. This is an important source of information for anyone who would like to travel or work overseas. They can also assist you in finding the nearest consulate office. An Embassy is also sometimes called a "High Commission."
   
3. Working Overseas vs. Playing Overseas
   To travel overseas as a tourist and to travel overseas as an employee are two very different situations. Be aware that the entry procedures and requirements are usually not the same. For instance, in many cases, tourists do not need a visa, permitted their stay does not last longer than a certain time. When entering the country as an employee, not only does the visit often last longer, requiring a different visa, but the government might have a say in the activities you can engage in while in the country.
   
4. Be in Touch With Your Employer
   Your employer overseas will most likely be responsible for obtaining your work permit. And without a work permit, you will not be able to process your visa application. Your employer will also have to produce a contract of employment that determines your length of stay in the country and other documents concerning their business validity and your employment.
   
5. Allow Yourself Extra Time
   This process can be very time consuming, so allow yourself plenty of time to complete the visa/work permit process. Processing time can take anywhere from 2 days in some countries to 6 months in others. Your employer will have to arrange for certain documents (and their approval) as well before you can even begin applying for your visa. If you rush through the procedures you could miss an important step and have to start from scratch.
   
6. Documents to Have Available
   Every country requires different documentation for the visa/work permit application. Some items/documents to have on hand include:
   1. a valid passport
   2. 2 or more passport size photos
   3. documentation from your employer
   4. a statewide criminal history record check
   5. a medical certificate
   
   
7. Some European Work Related Vocabulary
   • The Schengen Visa: allows you to move freely within the Schengen Area, comprised of 15 European countries. http://www.eurovisa.info
     
   • EEA: European Economic Area: comprised of the 15 members of the EU plus Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein. The EEA agreement includes a provision for the "free movement of persons." This allows nationals to live, work, study, and establish businesses in any other member countries with little to no obstacles. Additional information can be found at : http://eeas.europa.eu/eea/index_en.htm
   
   
8. A Country-by-Country Guide
   Here is some basic, general information on what you'll need to work overseas. However, information varies on a case-by-case, country-by-country basis. It depends on what country you're coming from, what country you're going to, your job description, and your length of stay. Information also changes quite often, especially as security issues are becoming increasingly important. Therefore, it is always best to contact your local consulate or embassy, which you'll need to do anyway when applying for your visa.
   

Skills gap between younger and older Singapore workers

Singapore's younger adults rank highly in numeracy, literacy and problem-solving skills, a major international study has found, but the older generation lags considerably behind. While this reflects the progress in education and training over the decades here, this "skills gap" also highlights that more needs to be done to upgrade the skills of older workers, said experts.
The study of 34 economies by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, which included Singapore for the first time, also linked higher skill levels to better wages here, another reason for older workers to keep improving themselves.
Still, employers place more premium on qualifications, and a better balance should be found, believes OECD director for education and skills Andreas Schleicher.

The results of OECD's Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (Piaac), which also involved countries such as Australia, Japan and South Korea, were released yesterday. Those aged between 16 and 34 in Singapore ranked second behind the Finns in problem-solving using digital tools, fifth in numeracy, which was also topped by Finland, and ninth in literacy, which was led by Japan.

But older adults here aged 45 to 65 performed lower than the OECD average. They were ranked 31st in literacy and numeracy skills and 18th for problem-solving.

The difference in scores between the younger and older generation here is also among the widest when compared with other countries. One reason for the gap, OECD said, could be the survey being conducted in English here. Almost eight in 10 respondents aged above 35 here said they were not native speakers.

Mr Ng Cher Pong, chief executive of the Singapore Workforce Development Agency, believes the difference reflects the marked improvement in Singapore's education and training systems over the last 50 years - including the ramp-up in schools and programmes.
But it is "hugely important" that Singapore finds ways to upgrade the skills of older workers, such as through schemes like SkillsFuture, said Dr Schleicher.
SkillsFuture is a national initiative to equip workers with skills.Doing so could "dramatically raise" Singapore's productivity and keep them employable, he said.
He highlighted how the survey, which involved 5,468 citizens and permanent residents, found that wage levels here were strongly linked to skill and education levels.
An increase of about 48 points in literacy proficiency scores is linked to a 12 per cent increase in hourly wages, almost double the OECD average. About 3.2 extra years in education bring a more than 30 per cent rise in wages - more than double the OECD average.
"Singapore employers pay quite a lot of attention to formal qualifications," said Dr Schleicher. But this might not be a good indicator of one's proficiency.
"It's the use of skills that drives productivity, not years of education," he added.

Are 10 Million Americans About To Be Screwed Out Of Their Pensions? (KR)

 
Earlier this spring, I presented my short call on Kroger (KR), arguing that America’s largest supermarket chain was feeling the increased pressure of an intensely competitive food retail environment. That’s the plain vanilla rationale behind my bear case. But there’s more.
One of the more distressing risks lurking beneath the surface—one that represents a threat not only to shareholders, but to pensioners as well—is Kroger’s exposure to a large number of multi-employer pension plans (MPPs). The company intentionally keeps these plans in an underfunded status and this has the potential to backfire on the company. In addition to increasing annual costs, the company’s total exposure to these plans, in another downturn, is potentially debilitating.
Kroger’s woes are emblematic of an affliction plaguing pension funds across the country. It’s the same old story – chronic underfunding, as the swelling ranks of retirees overtake a smaller base of currently contributing employees.
To underscore the issue at hand, MPPs are the primary source of retirement income for over ten million active, inactive and retired workers and their survivors. A number of these pension plans, much like their state-run brethren, are severely underfunded. In a report to Congress in 2013, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) estimated that MPPs have $757 billion in pension benefit liabilities, $391 billion of which are unfunded obligations. No small potatoes.
Kroger is one of the largest unionized employers in the United States. About 375,000 of their employees are covered by roughly 300 collective bargaining agreements. Kroger employees participate in 36 multi-employer pension plans (MPP), with a combined $70 billion in assets and $100 billion in associated liabilities.
Therein lays the problem.
A survey conducted by Segal Consulting found that 53% of the retail food MPPs in the survey were in the “red zone.” This means the plans either had “immediate and significant funding problems” or would be unable “to pay benefits within 15 to 20 years.” Underscoring the severity of the issue, in testimony before Congress in 2014, Kroger’s Vice President of Pension Investments and Strategy, Scott Henderson, called “the uncertain fate of the multiemployer system” a “huge concern.”
Here’s what’s even more disconcerting. Projected MPP shortfalls don’t account for what could happen to the plans in a protracted financial market downturn. Get this: Milliman data shows that every 4% decline in asset returns pushes MPP funding status down by 15% to 20%. That’s an enormous amount of sensitivity. And it’s significant cause for concern.
The story gets worse as a protracted stock market downturn may be imminent. Consider a comprehensive study of historical equity returns conducted by hedge fund founder Cliff Asness of AQR. Asness shows that over the next 10 years, stock returns will likely only average around 0.5% plus inflation. So call it 2% per year. In this scenario, these pension plans would see their funding ratios precipitously drop by 20% to 30%. In other words, an 80% funded plan today, will drop to 50% to 60% funding within a few years, just as the number of inactive retirees begins to go parabolic.
A perfect storm.
Making matters worse, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that if a major MPP becomes insolvent the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s insurance fund would exhaust within two or three years. This means that if (and when) MPP-participating employers fail to pay for the full withdrawal liabilities, due to reasons such as a bankruptcy or going out of business, the responsibility for the unfunded liabilities shifts to the employers that remain active in the plan. As a result, the remaining employers in the multi-employer pension plan are forced to pick up the tab of many people who never even worked for the company and may have worked for a competitor or in a different industry.
In Kroger’s case, the company’s rising healthcare and pension costs can’t be swept under the rug. Just last month, the Treasury Department denied an application put forth by a critically-impaired MPP, the Central States Plan, in which Kroger employees participate, to reduce benefits for covered employees arguing that the plan did not “satisfy the statutory criteria.” Investment return assumptions of 7.5% were deemed “not reasonable” and the benefit cuts not “equitably distributed.”
This is not an issue that can be kicked down the road. Unless something drastic is done, millions of Americans counting on their pensions will be left outside in the cold.
Kroger’s investors haven’t yet grasped the gravity of the situation. In 2015, Kroger’s pension liability ballooned 61% to $2.9 billion. That number will go even higher this year, hindering the company’s ability to grow and likely leading to lower equity value.
Little is being done right now to solve Kroger’s many issues. Investors would do well to get out before it’s too late. We see 20%-40% downside for shares of Kroger from current levels. Not to mention the massive potential pain ahead for pensioners.

Howard Penney is a managing director and restaurants analyst for Hedgeye, an independent investment research and online financial media firm based in Stamford, Connecticut.