Mercer issues 2009 Worldwide Benefits & Employment Guidelines Report

Keeping track of continual changes in laws and regulations in every country where an organization does business can be time-consuming and expensive. Mercer’s 2009 Worldwide Benefit Employment Guidelines Report (WBEG) is a comprehensive, reliable resource for managing global workforces. It contains reliable information on employment conditions, statutory employee benefits and typical employer benefit practices.

Offering in-depth data for 64 countries, the 2009 edition is available in five regional volumes representing the major economic regions of the world – the Americas, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and Middle East and Africa. Buying any volume also provides access to WBEG online and its comparators.

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Tokyo replaces Moscow as the most expensive city for expatriates

Tokyo has knocked Moscow off the top spot to become the world’s most expensive city for expatriates, according to the 2009 Cost of Living Survey from Mercer. Osaka ranks second, up nine places since last year, whereas Moscow is now in third place. Geneva climbed four places to fourth position, and Hong Kong moved up one to fifth place. New York joined the top 10 in eighth place. Johannesburg has replaced Asunción in Paraguay as the least expensive city in the ranking.

In Mercer’s survey, New York was used as the base city for the index and scored 100 points. All cities were compared against New York, and currency movements were measured against the US dollar. Tokyo scored 143.7 points and is nearly three times as costly as Johannesburg, with its index score of 49.6.

The survey covered 143 cities across six continents and measured the comparative cost of more than 200 items in each location, including housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. It is one of the world’s most comprehensive cost-of-living surveys and is used to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowances for their employees on international assignments.

A significant reshuffle of cities was seen in this year’s ranking, mainly due to currency fluctuations worldwide. The majority of European cities moved down in the ranking, with Warsaw experiencing the most dramatic change, plummeting from 35th to 113th place. London and Oslo, both previously in the top 10, dropped 13 and 10 places, respectively. The same trend was seen in Australia, New Zealand and India. Sydney dropped 51 places from 15th to 66th, and Mumbai slipped to 66th from 48th place.

Cities in the US, China, Japan and the Middle East, meanwhile, surged in the rankings. New York was a new entry in the top 10, jumping from 22nd to 8th place, along with Beijing in 9th place, up from 20th in 2008. Japan now has two cities in the top 10, and Dubai has climbed 32 places to reach 20th.

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The rules of recovery: An essential guide to the economic upswing in Asia

With signs of economic recovery already being seen in key markets in Asia, Mercer has launched “The rules of recovery: An essential guide to the economic upswing in Asia.” This new website shares Mercer’s latest thinking on economic recovery across the region and is fast becoming Asia’s premier resource for companies eager to learn what they should be doing today to prepare for the upswing. Timely and relevant, the site contains compelling new articles, podcasts, presentations and more.

In addition to this thought leadership, Mercer has also launched a series of eight webcasts focusing on the key issues organizations need to consider to remain competitive. Topics in the “Rules of recovery” webcast series include:

• Rule 1: Workforce planning for the future
• Rule 2: Regional strategies, framework and solutions
• Rule 3: Successful M&A strategies for Asia
• Rule 4: Spend optimization
• Rule 5: Organizational design for business results
• Rule 6: Managing risk
• Rule 7: Capturing top-line growth through effective HR
• Rule 8: Implementing new government regulations

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Mercer M&A Ready™ workshops continue worldwide

To help HR professionals prepare for the challenge of deal work and effectively manage the “people” issues vital to a successful transaction, Mercer will continue to conduct its 2009 M&A Ready™ workshops throughout the remainder of 2009. These two-day workshops, held in locations around the world, cover each deal phase from strategy and planning through to extended integration, describing the critical processes and HR program management approaches specific to complex transactions.

Mercer M&A Ready workshop facilitators are seasoned Mercer professionals with hands-on deal experience as part of Mercer’s global M&A consulting business.

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