Abstract
PurposeMany companies target international markets to expand their business. Companies need to manage international teams with a wide variety of skills, knowledge and values to run their business effectively; however, there are many issues of acculturation stress. Not only business travellers and expatriates, but also immigrant workers have issues adjusting to foreign culture. The aim of the present study is to identify the stress factors affecting foreign-born workers via a systematic review.MethodsThe systematic review was conducted using PubMed, PsycINFO, Embase and Cochrane Library databases. Articles on the subject of workers living abroad, such as immigrants, expatriates and business travellers, were included. The risk of bias in the included articles was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration’s tool for assessing risk of bias for randomised controlled trials (RCTs), RoBANS for non-RCT studies, and CASP for qualitative studies.ResultsFor the systematic review, 45 out of 14,994 articles were analysed. Six components, communication, cultural differences in the workplace, daily life, relationships with family and colleagues, financial problems and social inequality, were extracted.ConclusionForeign-born workers are suffering from acculturation and occupational stress. The results of the present study can help greatly with understanding of the stress structure of working abroad.
Highlights
Expanding business is an advantage of globalisation; in contrast, the issue of acculturation for workers has occurred
Immigrant workers have issues adjusting to foreign culture
The present study aims to assess the factors that deteriorate and mitigate stress amongst workers living abroad by conducting a systematic review
Summary
Many professional people have travelled abroad to work; for example, the number of business visits to the UK was 8.3 million in 2014 (Office for National Statistics 2015). Many companies target international markets; they send workers to foreign countries. Expanding business is an advantage of globalisation; in contrast, the issue of acculturation for workers has occurred. University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan company because international assignment has higher cost than domestic assignment. Expatriates experience huge cultural differences between their home countries and host countries. Immigrant workers have issues adjusting to foreign culture. They have to greatly change their lifestyle when adjusting to host countries; many stressful social adjustment problems occur (Cervantes et al 1991, 2016)
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