Experiences in global work of 10 respondents
| Name | Professional experiences in global work |
|---|---|
| Alessandro | A native of Kenya, Alessandro came to Italy after his graduation from high school to work as a volunteer in an NGO helping refugees. He then pursued university studies in education in Italy. Upon graduation, he held two part-time appointments in the same NGO, as well as another refugee centre. He is fluent in English and Italian, speaks some French and understands two dialects |
| Ehsan | Scarce work opportunities in Bangladesh prompted Ehsan to seek out work in Singapore as a construction worker at the age of 25. Unlike many of his peers, Ehsan is a diploma holder and speaks good English, which earns him the favours of many of his employers. Despite being recognised for his capabilities, the restrictive employment conditions as a migrant worker in Singapore mean that development pathways for Ehsan are limited |
| Emily | Emily completed her first academic studies in her home country in the USA, whilst helping in a family business. She moved to Germany for work experience and combined it with study. Emily worked for a global firm, specializing on intercultural training. She then went to Thailand with her son, to complete her PhD with a German university whilst working as a lecturer at a Thai university. After graduation she worked as a lecturer at universities in the Netherlands |
| Georg | An Austrian, Georg started out as an apprentice cook working in five European countries before he was selected to be a chef at a prestigious hotel. He was then rotated to eight countries in Asia and the Middle East (Singapore, Indonesia, Israel, Oman, United Arab Emirates, India, Hong Kong and China). Returning to Austria, he first worked as a FandB manager in a large hospital kitchen. He then opted for seasonal work as an instructor preparing disadvantaged migrant youths to become cooks and as a skiing instructor |
| Mei Yan | A Chinese national, Mei Yan first came to Singapore as a university intern attached to a retail outlet. She then worked briefly in a travel company in China before deciding to return to Singapore to work in a traditional Chinese medicine company. She soon switched to become a full-time freelancer specialising in Chinese language courses for the business community in Singapore. Feeling that she was stagnating professionally, she was seeking new qualifications to switch to a marketing role |
| Peter | Peter began his working life as a teacher in Spain. He then joined an international publishing firm, where he worked in different capacities in Spain and Portugal and subsequently studied in England to become an editor. Peter was then transferred to Japan where he spent three years with the family before relocating to Singapore. After a total of 23 years with the publishing firm, he left and took up an offer with another publishing firm as product director for Asia. However, the company underwent a structural change, leaving Peter free to pursue his business consultancy career |
| Quah | A Singaporean who pursued an architecture degree in Australia, Quah worked as an architect briefly before joining an agency handling Asian student recruitment. Based in Singapore, he provided education guidance to potential students and their families, often travelling to Asian locations to meet up with them. Subsequently, he was laid off and tried different options in the same field |
| Susannah | A Singaporean, Susannah is a tax consultant with the Singapore subsidiary of a big four accounting firm. In recent years, part of her work has been off-shored to India, which required the company to establish new working practices digitally between the Singaporean and Bangalore offices. Susannah found herself playing a new role as an informal mentor and coach to her Bangalore co-workers, who struggled to meet the expectations of their Singaporean co-workers |
| Vincenzo | A native of Italy, Vincenzo graduated from university as an educator and worked in his hometown for 7 years as a refugee educator. Feeling that local and governmental policies were against the profession’s efforts to educate refugees, he left and travelled to India for a year. He came back to take care of his father. He continues to work part-time as a refugee educator and holds another part-time position delivering food for seniors |
| Xin | Xin is a Singaporean freelance graphic designer with work experience in many educational publishing firms in Singapore. The biggest professional challenge for her was as a manager in the Singapore subsidiary of a major European educational publishing house, where she had the responsibility of handling the business process outsourcing of certain parts of the work from Singapore to India |
| Name | Professional experiences in global work |
|---|---|
| Alessandro | A native of Kenya, Alessandro came to Italy after his graduation from high school to work as a volunteer in an NGO helping refugees. He then pursued university studies in education in Italy. Upon graduation, he held two part-time appointments in the same NGO, as well as another refugee centre. He is fluent in English and Italian, speaks some French and understands two dialects |
| Ehsan | Scarce work opportunities in Bangladesh prompted Ehsan to seek out work in Singapore as a construction worker at the age of 25. Unlike many of his peers, Ehsan is a diploma holder and speaks good English, which earns him the favours of many of his employers. Despite being recognised for his capabilities, the restrictive employment conditions as a migrant worker in Singapore mean that development pathways for Ehsan are limited |
| Emily | Emily completed her first academic studies in her home country in the USA, whilst helping in a family business. She moved to Germany for work experience and combined it with study. Emily worked for a global firm, specializing on intercultural training. She then went to Thailand with her son, to complete her PhD with a German university whilst working as a lecturer at a Thai university. After graduation she worked as a lecturer at universities in the Netherlands |
| Georg | An Austrian, Georg started out as an apprentice cook working in five European countries before he was selected to be a chef at a prestigious hotel. He was then rotated to eight countries in Asia and the Middle East (Singapore, Indonesia, Israel, Oman, United Arab Emirates, India, Hong Kong and China). Returning to Austria, he first worked as a FandB manager in a large hospital kitchen. He then opted for seasonal work as an instructor preparing disadvantaged migrant youths to become cooks and as a skiing instructor |
| Mei Yan | A Chinese national, Mei Yan first came to Singapore as a university intern attached to a retail outlet. She then worked briefly in a travel company in China before deciding to return to Singapore to work in a traditional Chinese medicine company. She soon switched to become a full-time freelancer specialising in Chinese language courses for the business community in Singapore. Feeling that she was stagnating professionally, she was seeking new qualifications to switch to a marketing role |
| Peter | Peter began his working life as a teacher in Spain. He then joined an international publishing firm, where he worked in different capacities in Spain and Portugal and subsequently studied in England to become an editor. Peter was then transferred to Japan where he spent three years with the family before relocating to Singapore. After a total of 23 years with the publishing firm, he left and took up an offer with another publishing firm as product director for Asia. However, the company underwent a structural change, leaving Peter free to pursue his business consultancy career |
| Quah | A Singaporean who pursued an architecture degree in Australia, Quah worked as an architect briefly before joining an agency handling Asian student recruitment. Based in Singapore, he provided education guidance to potential students and their families, often travelling to Asian locations to meet up with them. Subsequently, he was laid off and tried different options in the same field |
| Susannah | A Singaporean, Susannah is a tax consultant with the Singapore subsidiary of a big four accounting firm. In recent years, part of her work has been off-shored to India, which required the company to establish new working practices digitally between the Singaporean and Bangalore offices. Susannah found herself playing a new role as an informal mentor and coach to her Bangalore co-workers, who struggled to meet the expectations of their Singaporean co-workers |
| Vincenzo | A native of Italy, Vincenzo graduated from university as an educator and worked in his hometown for 7 years as a refugee educator. Feeling that local and governmental policies were against the profession’s efforts to educate refugees, he left and travelled to India for a year. He came back to take care of his father. He continues to work part-time as a refugee educator and holds another part-time position delivering food for seniors |
| Xin | Xin is a Singaporean freelance graphic designer with work experience in many educational publishing firms in Singapore. The biggest professional challenge for her was as a manager in the Singapore subsidiary of a major European educational publishing house, where she had the responsibility of handling the business process outsourcing of certain parts of the work from Singapore to India |
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