Global mobility of expatriates (GLOMO) (H2020 MSCA)
Content and objectives

GLOMO's Cross-level Research Approach
Promoting labour mobility across Europe is a central objective of the Europe 2020 Strategy and it aims to tackle increasing labour and skill shortages in the EU. Cross-border labour mobility is expected to benefit both individual citizens, employers and the aggregate economy. In addition, intra-EU mobility is a means to foster European integration.
Although migration into OECD countries increases, driven largely by people moving within the EU, migration into and within Europe is still short of target levels. Despite a favourable legal framework for mobility, migrants still face a wide range of problems and obstacles that hamper cross-border labour mobility. Employment prospects for immigrants are below those of natives and overqualification, i.e. employment below skill levels, is widespread in most European countries. Consequently, the growth potential of immigrants is far from realised.
Little is known about transnational mobility patterns and the length of migration episodes as well as about retention processes of foreign employees. There is considerable scope to make existing labour mobility more efficient and beneficial for all parties involved.
GLOMO's focus is on global mobility into EU countries and within the EU and its impact on careers.
The policy making white papers and research suggest that the future Europe will witness even higher and more natural mobility.
To assure that Europe is ready for it, our objectives are:
(a) to systematically generate knowledge about the mobility phenomenon and its implications (success factors, effects and added value);
(b) to provide trainings to (further) develop early-stage and senior researchers understanding the complex multidisciplinary phenomenon of mobility and
(c) to suggest relevant implications for individuals, organisations, the European societies and economies.
The joint research and training programme will be conducted within an interdisciplinary and intersectoral network of experts in the field.
Methodology
Not only will GLOMO’s cutting-edge research be interdisciplinary (including specialists from the fields of management, economics, psychology, sociology, pedagogy and law) but also it will apply qualitative and quantitative methods across all levels of analysis (micro, meso and macro). A detailed description of methods employed in each sub-project can be found at
.Social relevance and application of results

Promoting labour mobility across Europe is a central objective of the Europe 2020 strategy, which aims to tackle increasing labour and skill shortages throughout the EU. Cross-border labour mobility is expected to benefit both individual citizens, employers and the aggregate economy. In addition, intra-EU mobility is a means to foster European integration. Although migration into OECD countries increases, driven largely by people moving within the EU, migration into and within Europe continues to fall short of target levels.
Despite a favourable legal framework for mobility, migrants continue to face a wide range of obstacles that hamper cross-border labour mobility. Employment prospects for immigrants are below those of European-born workers, and overqualification, i.e. employment below skill level, is widespread in the majority of European countries. Consequently, the professional growth potential of immigrants is far from realised. For this reason, the European Commission has called for a more complete picture of recruitment difficulties and skill gaps, and the causes thereof. Little is known about international mobility patterns and the length of migration periods, as well as organisations’ retention processes for foreign employees. There is considerable scope to make existing labour mobility more efficient and beneficial for all parties involved.
GLOMO’s focus is on global migration to EU countries and mobility within the EU, and its impact on careers. The related white papers and research suggest that in the future Europe will witness even higher mobility. To ensure EU readiness for these changes, our objective is to systematically generate knowledge about the mobility phenomenon and its implications (success factors, effects and added value).
Based on the scientific findings of the 15 research sub-projects, GLOMO will create a cutting-edge interdisciplinary, multi-level framework connecting a broad variety of influences on international careers with insights into a great number of country-specific characteristics.
Drawing on the research results, GLOMO will develop an audit instrument, ‘International Employer’, for public and private non-academic organisations, which will help organisations offer high quality employment conditions to international employees. The audit will ensure that the research findings regarding the employment of an international labour force can also be transferred into organisational practice.
Bamberg competencies
The entire project is coordinated by Prof. Dr. Maike Andresen at the University of Bamberg. She benefits greatly from her experience managing several EU-funded projects over the past 15 years as well as her expertise in this research field.
Prof. Dr. Andresen and her team will build on the existing research expertise in the field of expatriation, repatriation, global careers and human resource development. New research results will be provided on aspects including:
- The transferability of career capital between countries and career fields of assigned and self-initiated expatriates.
- The employability of highly skilled migrants abroad, including contextual factors at the individual, organisational and national level.
- Self-initiated expatriates’ embeddedness abroad and approaches to retain them in organisations and countries over the long term.
- The impact of work-life balance on the success of expatriation.
- The relevant implications for individuals, organisations and European societies and economies.
Prof. Dr. Andresen will provide trainings with other senior researchers to (further) develop early-stage researchers’ understandings of the complex multidisciplinary phenomenon of mobility. The joint research and training programme will be conducted within an interdisciplinary and intersectoral network of experts in the field.
Publications
Nguyen, A., & Andresen, M. (2023). “A laugh a day keeps the failure away": The role of self-enhancing humor and host country community embeddedness in career satisfaction of dual-earner expatriate couples. Frontiers in Psychology, 14(1125136). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1125136 (Impact Factor: 4.232) (Open Access)
“A laugh a day keeps the failure away”: How does humor increase career satisfaction of expatriate couples?
Blog, text written by Anh Nguyen and Maike Andresen, 26.04.2023
https://5c.careers/2023/04/26/a-laugh-a-day-keeps-the-failure-away-how-does-humor-increase-career-satisfaction-of-expatriate-couples/
Nguyen, A., & Andresen, M. (2022). „A laugh a day keeps the failure away“: How do self-enhancing humor and community embeddedness promote subjective career success of dual-earner migrant couples? In: Posterausstellung Geschlechtersensibel forschen, Bamberg/Germany, December 14, 2022.
Suarez-Bilbao, B., Andresen, M., Crowley-Henry, M., & O’Connor, E. (2022). The influence of complexity, chance and change on the career crafting strategies of SIEs. Career Development International, forthcoming. (2.443 Impact Factor) https://doi.org/10.1108/CDI-06-2022-0137 (Open Access)
Dickmann, M., Barzantny, C., Andresen, M., Anger, S., Al Ariss, A., Brücker, H., Mäkelä, L., Muhr, S. L., Suutari, V., & Zølner, M. (2022). Global Mobility of Employees: Creating an audit tool to support good practice. The Project Repository Journal PRJ, 14(7), 48-51. https://doi.org/10.54050/PRj1419197 (Open Access)
Oleškevičiūtė, E., Dickmann, M., Andresen, M., & Parry, E. (2022). The international transfer of individual career capital: Exploring and developing a model of the underlying factors. Journal of Global Mobility, 10(3), 392-415. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JGM-12-2020-0082/full/html (Open Access)
Biswas, T., Mäkelä, L., & Andresen, M. (2022). Work and non-work related antecedents of expatriates’ well-being: A meta-analysis. Human Resource Management Review, 32(3), 100889. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2021.100889 (Open Access) (10.667 Impact factor 2022)
Andresen, M. (2021). When at home, do as they do at home? Valuation of self-initiated repatriates’ competences in French and German management career structures. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 32(4), 789-821. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2018.1511612 (published online 2018)
Andresen, M., & Bergdolt, F. (2021). Individual and job-related antecedents of a global mindset: An analysis of international business travelers’ characteristics and experiences abroad. TheInternational Journal of Human Resource Management, 32(9),1953-1985. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2019.1588349 (published online 2019). Free eprint: https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/FRAPDTSI2NTNNGEQGNVV/full?target=10.1080/09585192.2019.1588349
Andresen, M., Goldmann, P., & Volodina, A. (2018). Do overwhelmed expatriates intend to leave? The effects of sensory processing sensitivity, stress, and well-being on expatriates’ turnover intention. European Management Review, 15(1), 315-328. https://doi.org/10.1111/emre.12120
Andresen, M., & Bergdolt, F. (2017). A systematic literature review on the definitions of global mindset and cultural intelligence: Merging two different research streams. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 28(1), 170-195. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2016.1243568
Andresen, M. (2015). What determines expatriates’ performance while abroad? The role of job embeddedness. Journal of Global Mobility,3(1), 62-82. https://doi.org/10.1108/JGM-06-2014-0015
Andresen, M., Bergdolt, F., Margenfeld, J., & Dickmann, M. (2014). Addressing international mobility confusion: Developing definitions and differentiations for self-initiated and assigned expatriates as well as migrants. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 25(16), 2295-2318. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2013.877058
Andresen, M., Anger, S., Al Ariss, A., Barzantny, C., Brücker, H., Dickmann, M., Mäkelä, L., Muhr, S. L., Saalfeld, T., Suutari, V., & Zølner, M. (Eds.) (2022). Wanderlust to wonderland? Exploring key issues in expatriate careers: Individual, organizational, and societal insights. In M. Andresen & J. Volmer (Book SeriesEds.), Human Resource Management and Work and Organisational Psychology (Vol. 2). University of Bamberg Press. https://doi.org/10.20378/irb-55344
Andresen, M. (2022). The vision of the GLOMO project: Introduction and overview. In M. Andresen et al. (Eds.), Wanderlust to wonderland? Exploring key issues in expatriate careers: Individual, organizational, and societal insights (pp. 15-23). (M. Andresen & J. Volmer, Book Series Eds., Human Resource Management and Work and Organisational Psychology, Vol. 2). University of Bamberg Press. https://doi.org/10.20378/irb-55764
Andresen, M., Dickmann, M., & Suutari, V. (2022). Acting in the spirit of the whole: Expatriation between the poles of personal intentions and company and country policies. In: M. Andresen et al. (Eds.), Wanderlust to wonderland? Exploring key issues in expatriate careers: Individual, organizational, and societal insights (pp. 25-36). (M. Andresen & J. Volmer, Book Series Eds., Human Resource Management and Work and Organisational Psychology, Vol. 2). University of Bamberg Press. https://doi.org/10.20378/irb-55765
Nguyen, A., & Andresen, M. (2022). Future research on self-initiated expatriation: Emerging topics. In: M. Andresen et al. (Eds.), Wanderlust to wonderland? Exploring key issues in expatriate careers: Individual, organizational, and societal insights (pp. 279-292). (M. Andresen & J. Volmer, Book Series Eds., Human Resource Management and Work and Organisational Psychology, Vol. 2). University of Bamberg Press. https://doi.org/10.20378/irb-55785
Nguyen, A. (2022). Multi-level factors influencing job embeddedness among migrant employees: A systematic literature review. In: M. Andresen et al. (Eds.), Wanderlust to wonderland? Exploring key issues in expatriate careers: Individual, organizational, and societal insights (pp. 157-188). (M. Andresen & J. Volmer, Book Series Eds., Human Resource Management and Work and Organisational Psychology, Vol. 2). University of Bamberg Press.
Andresen, M., Dickmann, M., & Suutari, V. (2018). Typologies of internationally mobile employees. In M. Dickmann, V. Suutari, & O. Wurtz (Eds.), The Management of Global Careers. Exploring the Rise of International Work (pp. 33-62). Palgrave Macmillan.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76529-7_2
Andresen, M., & Bergdolt, F. (2018). Internationale Karrieren von Erwerbstätigen: Wege, Pfade, Systeme und Erfolge. In S. Kauffeld & D. Spurk (Eds.), Handbuch Karriere und Laufbahnmanagement (pp. 1-22). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-45855-6_25-1
Selmer, J., Andresen, M., & Cerdin, J.-L. (2017). Self-initiated expatriates. In Y. McNulty & J. Selmer (Eds.), Research Handbook of Expatriates (pp. 187-201). Edward Elgar. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781784718183
Suarez-Bilbao, B., Andresen, M., Crowley-Henry, M., & O’Connor, E. (2022). The influence of complexity, chance and change on the career crafting strategies of SIEs. In: Proceedings of the 82nd Academy of Management 2022 Annual Meeting, ID 10260, “Creating a better world together”, Seattle/USA (hybrid), August 5-9, 2022.
Oleškevičiūtė, E., Dickmann, M., Andresen, M., & Parry, E. (2021). Exploring the factors affecting international transfer of career capital. In: Proceedings of the European Academy of Management 2021 Annual Conference, “Reshaping capitalism for a sustainable world”, Montréal/CAN (online), June 16-18, 2021.
Oleškevičiūtė, E., Dickmann, M., Andresen, M., & Parry, E. (2022). Bringing global expertise home: Deconstructing and reshaping current understanding and conceptualisation of the international transfer of career capital possessed by self-initiated repatriates. In: Proceedings of the 26th Nordic Academy of Management Conference 2022, “Bringing research together”, Örebro/SWE, August 24-26, 2022.
Suarez-Bilbao, B., Crowley-Henry, M., O’Connor, E., & Andresen, M. (2021). Connecting international employees’ motivations, job crafting strategies and talent management implications. Toward the development of a conceptual framework. In: Proceedings of the European Academy of Management 2021 Annual Conference, “Reshaping capitalism for a sustainable world”, Montréal/CAN (online), June 16-18, 2021. ISSN 2466-7498 and ISBN: 978-2-9602195-3-1
Biswas, T., Mäkelä, L., & Andresen, M. (2020). Work and non-work related antecedents of expatriates’ well-being: A meta-analysis. In: Proceedings of the European Academy of Management (EURAM) 2020 Annual Conference, “The business of now: The future starts here”, Dublin/IRE, December 4-6, 2020.
Dickmann, M., Andresen, M., & Suutari, V. (2020). Symposium on ‚Global mobility across societal, organizational and individual levels: Exploring today and beyond’. In: Proceedings of the European Academy of Management (EURAM) 2020 Annual Conference, “The business of now: The future starts here”, Dublin/IRE, December 4-6, 2020.
Barzantny, C., Dickmann, M., Suutari, V., Zølner, M., & Andresen, M. (2020). Symposium on ‘Global mobility: Towards sustainable careers and mindful international interactions’. In: Proceedings of the European Academy of Management 2021 Annual Conference, “Reshaping capitalism for a sustainable world”, Montréal/CAN (online), June 16-18, 2021.
Biswas, T., Mäkelä, L., & Andresen, M. (2019). Work and non-work related antecedents of well-being for mobile employees: A systematic review and theoretical extension. In: Proceedings of the 15th Vaasa Conference on International Business, Vaasa/Finland, August 19-21, 2019.
Biswas, T., Mäkelä, L., & Andresen, M. (2019). Work and non-work related antecedents of well-being for mobile employees: A systematic review and theoretical extension. In: Proceedings of the 25th Nordic Academy of Management (NFF) Conference, August 22-24, 2019.
Andresen, M., Nguyen, A., & Luong, H. (2022). Global Mobility of Employees: Issues, results and impacts of the GLOMO project. PRJ The Project Repository Journal, 14(7), 76-79. https://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/html5/reader/production/default.aspx?pubname=&edid=095fc716-1ffb-4179-a368-36e3ff6d513b
Dickmann, M., & Andresen, M. (2022). Global Mobility of Employees: Understanding societal, organisational and individual patterns. www.europeandissemination.eu, 05/2022, 48-51. https://doi.org/10.54050/PRJ1318794
Andresen, M., & Rosseburg, S. (2022). Wohlbefinden ist nicht alles, aber ohne Wohlbefinden ist alles nichts: Eine Meta-Analyse zu den Beeinflussungsfaktoren auf das Wohlbefinden von im Ausland tätigen Arbeitnehmenden. uni.vers Forschung – Gesundheit [Insights into Health], 05/2022, 60-63. https://www.uni-bamberg.de/fileadmin/uni/verwaltung/presse/045-UNI-PUBLIKATIONEN/uni.vers/2022-forschung/univers-2022-webversion-mit-links.pdf
Migrant workers in Europe. Developing a new understanding to combat labor shortages.
Text written by Patricia Achter, 08.12.2022, https://www.research-in-bavaria.de/migrant-workers-in-europe
Zugewanderte Arbeitskräfte in Europa fördern: Studienergebnisse des EU-Großprojekts GLOMO sind veröffentlicht
Text written by Patricia Achter, 08.12.2022,https://blog.uni-bamberg.de/forschung/2022/arbeit-europa/
Wie die Integration von Zugewanderten gelingen kann.
Text written by Maike Andresen & Anh Nguyen, Deutsche Optikerzeitung DOZ, 07/2022, pp. 29-33.
"Evangelist" oder "Cleaning Agent" gesucht: Wenn Fachkräftewerbung auf Englisch nach hinten losgeht
Interview, Stern, 03.08.2022, https://www.stern.de/wirtschaft/news/-evangelist--gesucht--wenn-fachkraeftesuche-auf-englisch-floppt-32597470.html
«Evangelist» gesucht - Fachkräftewerbung in Englisch
Interview, Handelsblatt, 03.08.2022, https://www.handelsblatt.com/dpa/evangelist-gesucht-fachkraeftewerbung-in-englisch/28570866.html
Interview, Berliner Morgenpost, 03.08.2022, https://www.morgenpost.de/wirtschaft/karriere/article236059867/Fachkraeftewerbung-in-Englisch.html
Interview, Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, 03.08.2022, https://www.noz.de/lebenswelten/beruf-karriere/artikel/fachkraftewerbung-in-englisch-42654089
Interview, pnp.de, 03.08.2022, https://www.pnp.de/ratgeber/bildung-und-karriere/Fachkraeftewerbung-in-Englisch-4392488.html
„Cleaning Agent“ gesucht. Rätselhafte, englische Stellenbezeichnungen lassen so manche Bewerber verzweifeln
Interview, Schwäbische Zeitung, Column „Wirtschaft“, 04.08.2022, p. 7.
Fachkräftewerbung in Englisch
Interview, Kölnische Rundschau, 03.08.2022, https://www.rundschau-online.de/ratgeber/fachkraeftewerbung-in-englisch-39854584?cb=1659596157437&
Interview, Mittelhessen, 03.08.2022, https://www.mittelhessen.de/ratgeber/ausbildung-und-beruf/beruf/fachkraftewerbung-in-englisch_25651773
Interview, Radio Kiepenkerl, 03.08.2022, https://www.radiokiepenkerl.de/artikel/fachkraeftewerbung-in-englisch-1385680.html
Interview, Radio Hochstift, 03.08.2022, https://www.radiohochstift.de/nachrichten/nrw-und-die-welt/detailansicht/fachkraeftewerbung-in-englisch.html
Interview, Radio Bielefeld, 03.08.2022, https://www.radiobielefeld.de/nachrichten/nrw-und-die-welt/nrw-und-die-welt/fachkraeftewerbung-in-englisch.html
Andresen, M. (2022). Zugewanderte in Unternehmen integrieren - VHB expert Maike Andresen über Erfolgsfaktoren aus Sicht des Personalmanagements. VHB, 25.04.2022, https://vhbonline.org/fileadmin/user_upload/VHB_experts_Statement_Zugewanderte_in_Unternehmen_2022.pdf; https://vhbonline.org/news?tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=418&cHash=f0e248aa61decf7ed6670ec8caa639f9
Zugewanderte in Unternehmen integrieren.
Text written by Maike Andresen, Informationsdienst Wissenschaft (idw), 26.04.2022, https://idw-online.de/de/news792373
Homeoffice in Singapur? Unnötig!
Interview, WirtschaftsWoche, 05.11.2021, pp. 88-91.
Deutschland ist attraktiver als gedacht
Interview, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Column „Wirtschaft“, 18.10.2021, p. 17.
Leben für Migranten hat sich verbessert
Interview, Bayrischer Rundfunk, 17.03.2021
https://www.br.de/nachrichten/bayern/corona-news-ticker-oberfranken-kw11,SRXzrn9
Jeder fünfte sieht Vorteile in der Pandemie
Interview, Frankfurt live, 19.03.2021
https://www.frankfurt-live.com/wie-geht-es-ausgewanderten-durch-corona-130306.html
Ausländische Fachkräfte langfristig binden: Wie Unternehmen Migrant*innen integrieren.
Interview, Bayerische Staatszeitung, column "Beilage", 17.07.2020, p. 29.
https://www.bayerische-staatszeitung.de/staatszeitung/wissenschaft/detailansicht-wissenschaft/artikel/auslaendischefachkraefte-langfristig-binden.html
Damit es im Gastland leichter wird
Interview, Haßfurter Tagblatt, 24.06.2020
Netzwerk Europa – Forschungsalltag in Bamberg
Interview, gaz (Grüne Alternative Zeitung), No. 88, April/May 2019, p. 3.
http://www.gal-bamberg.de/index.php?id=2173
Abbiegen, bitte
Interview, duz - Deutsche Universitätszeitung, Heft 02, 23.02.2018, S. 23-27.
"Glomo" sucht Bewerber aus aller Welt.
Interview, Fränkischer Tag, 17.02.2018, S. 14.
EU-Forschungsprojekt sucht Doktoranden.
Interview, Bayerische Rundschau, 10.02.2018, S. 20.
BayIntAn als Sprungbrett zum Projekterfolg
Interview, BayFOR News, Juni 2018, S. 17.