Where are you from?

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A question that will prove harder to answer in the coming decade and will bring along new business and communication challenges.

The Financial Times asked 10 of its writers to “identify an idea that is going reshape the business world in the coming decade.” The thought-provoking predictions published in the FT Weekend Magazine focused on everything from cloud computing to Gen Xers entering the apex of their power and new types of risk insurance on the market. I would like to add one more idea to the list: the simple question of “Where are you from?” won’t have an easy answer.

I see that trend in my own life. I was born and raised in the Czech Republic, studied, lived and worked in the United States for six years and currently work for an American public relations company in London. When people ask me where I am from, I sometimes hesitate, not sure whether they want to know where I was born, where I live, or just want to confirm that my American English accent is really from the States.

In the coming decade, we will see many more people studying and working abroad for extended periods of time. Several forces will be responsible for this trend. Firstly, The European Union is expanding and despite the recession, the purchasing power of people in the “new” countries will grow, allowing more people to travel, work and study abroad. EU’s education programme Erasmus sends 180,000 students each year abroad to one of the 90% of European universities that take part. So far, 2 million students have participated. Similar trend will be seen in Asia and other developing regions where strengthening middle class will move around the world much more freely.

Secondly, Generations X and Y, will be more willing to move to another country for career opportunities having living abroad experience from student years. As The Kelly Global Workforce survey of 100,000 people in 34 countries in 2009 revealed 83 per cent of respondents believe that organisations should strive to employ individuals of various nationalities and cultures to achieve organisational success and most respondents (78 per cent) want to become more globally oriented, even forgoing pay to get international experience.

Thirdly, technology will continue to make it much easier to work and study abroad without feeling entirely disconnected from home. Technology will be also behind many international interactions, whether they happen on twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or InterNations. Haven’t heard of InterNations? It is a social network dedicated to people who work abroad. Its 120,000+ members are very active online and offline. I attend their events at least once a month and I have found that it is not unusual for an after-work drinks party in London to be capped at 300 people with waiting lists for those that didn’t make the cut.

It’s not to say that people will become international and forget about where they were raised, spent years studying and made friends. The opposite will be true. People will bond with those who share their past experiences (especially when away from home) and will stay connected with their past homes by reading local newspapers, communicating with friends directly and through regional social networks (e.g. Xing for Germany, Orkut in Brazil). A whole new world of expats will be born along with whole new set of challenges and opportunities for communications professionals like me. It should be exciting!