Despite their high cost of living, major Asia-Pacific cities are among the most popular destinations for expat workers because of their booming economies and excellent career opportunities. As well as outstanding job prospects and the possibility of attractive salary and benefits packages, major cities in the Asia-Pacific region offer a diversity of social and cultural experiences for foreign workers and their families.

Five of the major financial, industrial and business centers of the region was recently ranked by quality of life. The quality of life or “hardship rating” takes into account factors such as political, social and religious freedom, environment, climate, personal safety and the ease or difficulty of integrating with life in the local culture.

Sydney

Hardship Rating: Minimal

The far flung capital of the country and continent of Australia has much to offer potential expat workers. With beautiful beaches, a clean livable city, welcoming locals and an exciting business climate, Sydney appears to have it all. One of the few economies that was minimally affected by the economic crisis, Australia has a vibrant service economy and a large mining industry. Virtually all major Australian and international companies are headquartered in Sydney.

In recent years Australia has made a push to become a multicultural society. Nearly a quarter of its current population was born overseas, up from just under 10% at the close of the Second World War. Almost half of all Australians were either born overseas or have at least one parent who was born overseas. Departing from its long history of a whites only immigration policy, the last vestiges of which were abolished in 1973, Australia now views its multicultural heritage as both an economic and cultural treasure.

Although the largest proportion of Australian immigrants still come from English speaking countries like the U.K.(20%) and New Zealand(9%), new policies are encouraging more Chinese(6%), East Indian(6%), Vietnamese(3%) and Filipino(3%) born immigrants.

Singapore

Hardship Rating: Minimal

With over 7,000 U.S. multinational companies and 15,000 Chinese companies represented in this small island city-state, Singapore maintains it’s standing as one of the freest and most vibrant economies in the world. 42% of the country’s 5 million people are foreign workers. At little more than 40 miles across, the island is the third most densely populated country on the planet.

After Singapore proclaimed independence from Great Britain in 1963 it joined the federation of former British colonies as part of Malaysia and then was unanimously expelled two years later. Singapore is the most religiously diverse country in the world according to the Pew research center. It also has four official languages although most business, government, courts and public education is conducted in English.

Hong Kong

Hardship Rating: Some

As both a physical and cultural island, Hong Kong has been shaped by its 156 years of British rule and as a refuge for millions of ethnic Chinese that have fled the mainland over the years to escape war, famine and natural disaster. Today’s Hong Kong leads the world in many notable criteria including the longest average life expectancy, the highest IQ and the most vertical city.

Upon the British handover of sovereignty in 1997, Hong Kong was established as the first special administrative district of the People’s Republic of China. Hong Kong continues to enjoy a high level of autonomy and, despite the rise of both Shanghai and Beijing as international cities, remains the premier gateway to China. It’s culture is popularly referred to as East meets West and with its large, vibrant and varied expat community it remains one of the most popular and dynamic cities for business.

Tokyo

Hardship Rating: Some

Tokyo is the most populous metropolitan area in the world. Although it is often thought of as a city, Tokyo actually encompasses 23 wards which are each governed as a separate city. The central business district wards of Chiyoda, Chūō, and Minato have an overnight population of 325,000 and as workers flood into the city, a daytime population of 2.4 million. To facilitate movement around this massive urban area, Tokyo has developed the most extensive urban rail network in the world.

Tokyo has long had the reputation as the most expensive city in the world for expatriates but has fallen as low as 12th in recent rankings. The largest expat groups in Tokyo are Chinese followed by Korean. As of 2011 there were only slightly over 17,000 U.S. born residents and 6,000 from the UK.

Japan has a highly developed sense of nationality based on shared tradition and ancestry. In Japan, people of foreign birth or foreign heritage are called gaijin, literally “outside person”. There is no concept equivalent to Japanese-American or Japanese-Australian.

Japan existed as a closed society for more than 200 years between 1616 and the mid-1800s, when only a handful of foreign traders were allowed to land under tight supervision and Japanese citizens were not allowed to travel. This insular nature persists today, even for Japanese moving from one prefecture to another. Japanese are culturally very polite but typically wary of foreigners.

Shanghai

Hardship Rating: High

The world’s most populous city proper is well established as a magnet for expat workers looking for opportunity in Shanghai’s fast growing global economy. Shanghai has experienced double digit growth for 20 of the last 22 years, making it unrecognizable to anyone that might have been familiar with the city prior to 1992. The huge Chinese domestic market combined with Shanghai’s special trading status has made it the entryway for direct foreign investment in China. With the world’s busiest container port, Shanghai is also a major export and import hub of China.

Local denizens are mostly tolerant of the over 150,000 expat workers in Shanghai although there have been a few minor flare-ups. Language is the most obvious adjustment for foreign workers. Considered difficult to learn by many westerners because of its tonal qualities and character based writing system, Mandarin is an essential tool to gain access to local Chinese goods and services. Without at least some background in Mandarin expat workers are bound to pay considerably more for food, transportation and services. Language barriers as well as distinctly different priorities among young Chinese compared to their western contemporaries also limit social interaction.

Know Before You Go

Researching your destination and knowing as much as possible about what to expect will help make your transition smoother and your experience more positive.

Steven McManus is a Remuneration and Benefits Consultant and founder of http://www.xpatulator.com where employers and employees can calculate how much you need to earn in another location to have a similar spending power. Calculators include Salary Purchasing Power Parity (recommended if you are an organization planning to relocate an employee to an international location, or an individual with a job offer in another country), International Assignment Management (recommended for the calculation of the compensation and benefits for a typical expatriate assignment of six months up to five years duration using your choice of home and host location), Cost of Living Allowance (recommended for calculating a cost of living allowance for short-term assignments and a detailed cost of living comparison basket by basket) and Cost of Living Index (recommended for the calculation of 3 or more host location cost of living indexes using your choice of home base city).

Steven McManus is a Remuneration and Benefits Consultant and founder of http://www.xpatulator.com where employers and employees can calculate how much you need to earn in another location to have a similar spending power. Calculators include Salary Purchasing Power Parity (recommended if you are an organization planning to relocate an employee to an international location, or an individual with a job offer in another country), International Assignment Management (recommended for the calculation of the compensation and benefits for a typical expatriate assignment of six months up to five years duration using your choice of home and host location), Cost of Living Allowance (recommended for calculating a cost of living allowance for short-term assignments and a detailed cost of living comparison basket by basket) and Cost of Living Index (recommended for the calculation of 3 or more host location cost of living indexes using your choice of home base city).

Author Bio: Steven McManus is a Remuneration and Benefits Consultant and founder of http://www.xpatulator.com where employers and employees can calculate how much you need to earn in another location to have a similar spending power. Calculators include Salary Purchasing Power Parity (recommended if you are an organization planning to relocate an employee to an international location, or an individual with a job offer in another country), International Assignment Management (recommended for the calculation of the compensation and benefits for a typical expatriate assignment of six months up to five years duration using your choice of home and host location), Cost of Living Allowance (recommended for calculating a cost of living allowance for short-term assignments and a detailed cost of living comparison basket by basket) and Cost of Living Index (recommended for the calculation of 3 or more host location cost of living indexes using your choice of home base city).

Category: Career
Keywords: International Cost of Living, International Mobility, Expat Salary, Expat Asia Pacific