When sending an employee on assignment, the question tends to be, “Is the assignee ready for their destination country?” When it comes to Brazil and the upcoming World Cup and Olympics, we ask, “Is Brazil ready for the impacts of those events on assignees?” To find out, I recently spoke with Mai Kok de Assis, founder and partner at Searching Relocation Services in Brazil. Since Brazil just enjoyed hosting the Confederation Cup this past summer, we believe it is a good time to review that experience in light of bigger events to come.
In the Cartus podcast, “Brazil Prepares for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics,” some topics we discuss are the games’ impact on the need for transportation and infrastructure improvements. According to some estimates, around 1 million tourists and 3 million Brazilians are expected at next summer’s 2014 World Cup. As such, mobility will be affected by the country’s ability to address the lack of infrastructure. In addition, housing, schooling, telecommunications, and electricity all require additional investments in preparation for the additional demand of these services. Companies moving assignees to Brazil need to be informed – and prepared. As we work with these companies, we suggest taking a number of precautions into consideration.
• Renew leases that would expire close to the World Cup early to avoid losing properties to short-term tourists.
• Plan ahead for schooling, and make arrangements as early in the process as possible.
• Take extra care with scheduling trips and making reservations around this time next summer, and try to avoid sending assignees and business travelers to Brazil between June 12 and July 13, 2014, when travel may be most impacted.
In the podcast below, I speak with our Global Network provider in Brazil about the impact of the upcoming Olympics and World Cup on Brazil-based assignments. The podcast runs for about 9 minutes.
Written by Terese Kowalski
Terese is manager, supply chain management for the Americas. She has more than a decade of global relocation experience, specializing in supplier performance, supplier sourcing management and relocations to the Americas' key emerging markets.
