Expat perks

[wahansa]

Browsing through this forum, I found that relocation packages and "housing allowances" are a common thing among expats. But generally speaking, what kind of jobs will give you those perks? Do they usually come through the headhunter channel?

Well, I am a HK citizen who has been away for 7 years. I wonder if employers would treat me as an "expat" or "just a local"--which would probably make a ton of difference in terms of relocation allowances.

[discobay]

If you want an expat package then you need to appear as one. You should not declare an address here and will probably need an overseas address at which you can be contacted for the offer letter and to make HR happy.

[PDLM]

I think you'll be lucky to find a company that regards anyone who doesn't need a visa to work in Hong Kong as an expat in terms of the full package of allowances etc, although I guess it's more likely that you would find one that might pay one-time costs of relocating if they want you badly enough. The only way it might happen is if you were coming here on an overseas assignment - in other words, if you started working for a multinational in Sweden for a while and then got transferred internally to Hong Kong with your base employment contract remaining in Sweden then this might work.

But the problem in that case would be that the package might include "tax equalisation" meaning that you would have deductions as if you were still working (and being taxed) in Sweden. This would likely more or less cancel out the extra allowances.

In my experience, if you don't have kids and aren't too fussed about living in over-priced accommodation then there isn't all that much difference between a tax-equalised European expat package and a local one in terms of net cash in pocket.

[wahansa]

Well, even though I am a HK citizen, I do not have any address in Hong Kong anymore. I have already "uprooted" myself, so to speak.
Actually, I am more concerned about the moving costs, because after having lived in Sweden for four years, I am broke. As you may guess, being taxed by Sweden is the last thing I would want to do if I do indeed get a chance to work in Hong Kong.
My question is: if I want to have those perks, is it better to be "headhunted" rather than applying directly for jobs that are advertised to the locals?

[PDLM]

Yes, absolutely. No job that is advertised to locals will have any chance of carrying an expat package.

I really think your chances of getting something like that without working for a multi-national somewhere else first and then being internally transferred are very very slim.

And frankly, as I said, in many cases the expat packages really aren't worth a lot if you don't have kids. (I exclude the very silly packages given to top investment bankers, who have taken greedy excess to a whole new level.)