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Hello world!
Option 2: International HRM
If I were given the choice of anywhere to go in the world to continue my career, I would choose London, UK. Assuming I am still a project engineer if I were to work there, I find London interesting because of the historic architecture. London interests me because I have visited there before, and since it is an English-speaking country, the transition would be less daunting. According to an article I found on job comparisons of the US to the UK, the UK has significantly lower food and housing costs. But, the average salary for a project engineer in the UK is about $60,000, whereas, in the US, the starting salary for a PE is usually $70,000. One of the most significant changes when moving to the UK would be healthcare. In the UK, free healthcare is provided to all permanent residents. This affects the responsiveness of the healthcare system there in that it is lacking compared to the US. This difference in the healthcare systems would definitely be an adjustment since they “closely represent (opposite) extremes”. I found that full-time employees in the UK work 42.7 hours on average, whereas employees work 47 hours in the US. This number of hours would be nice, but I’m not sure how much of a difference it would make to my daily life. When researching women in construction in the UK, I was surprised to find that the UK has the lowest percentage of female engineers in Europe. I think this could cause me to adjust to how I would be treated in the UK compared to the US since women in construction there are so scarce.
After my research, I would still be interested in moving to the UK for work, but I see how the cultural differences could take a toll on me if I did not prepare for the upcoming changes.
References:
Brief comparison – UK healthcare system vs. U.S. Healthcare System. Healthcare Administration. (n.d.). Retrieved May 31, 2022, from https://www.healthcareadministration.com/brief-comparison-uk-healthcare-system-vs-u-s-healthcare-system/#:~:text=While%20both%20systems%20have%20world,tax%20based%20system%20versus%20the
Inc, W. (n.d.). Global education laureates. Whizstorm. Retrieved May 31, 2022, from https://whizstorm.com/blog/the-uk-vs-us-in-terms-of-job-salary-and-payscale
Jones, J. (2022, April 27). Cities with the most women in construction. Construction Coverage. Retrieved May 31, 2022, from https://constructioncoverage.com/research/cities-with-the-most-women-in-construction-2020