Archives for Research

Quality of living is a highly subjective area of research. Most of us feel we have a pretty good handle on where to live and the decision typically boils down to family roots and possible employment. No one that I know of has chosen where to live (or to repatriate) based upon the results of a research study.  

Mercer Human Resource Consulting’s 2007 Worldwide Quality of Living Survey, released last week, is used by HR compensation experts to help determine whether expatriates are entitled to hardship compensation. The ranking of 270 cities suggests a clear bias toward mostly white, wealthy enclaves - where the living is good (give or take some harsh winters). Mercer’s top-ranked cities lack what are often euphemistically termed “urban issues.” Though many of these cities have bilingual citizens, or serve as hubs of international commerce, few of these cities are considered multicultural “melting pots.”

Here’s Mercer’s ranking of the top 10 global cities, based upon its Quality of Living metrics:

1. Zurich, Switzerland, Score 108.1
2. Geneva, Switzerland, Score 108.0
3. Vancouver, Canada, Score 107.7
3. Vienna, Austria, Score 107.7
5. Auckland, New Zealand, Score 107.3
5. Dusseldorf, Germany, Score 107.3
7. Frankfurt, Germany, Score 107.1
8. Munich, Germany, Score 106.9
9. Bern, Switzerland, Score 106.5
9. Sydney, Australia, Score 106.5

“Scores are based on the quality and availability of hospital and medical supplies and levels of air pollution and infectious diseases,” explains Mercer. “The efficiency of waste removal and sewage systems, water potability and the presence of harmful animals and insects are also taken into account.” Asian cities such as Delhi, Singapore, Beijing, and Shanghai all scored poorly despite  their global stature, emerging affluence and bountiful jobs.

Let’s not dismiss problems posed by bugs and bad hospitals, but if job seekers were to prepare such a ranking, wouldn’t they overweight job availability, cost of living, weather and quality of schools?  Perhaps, but this study is aimed at HR managers not job seekers. “Companies managing a global workforce must take into account a range of factors when structuring remuneration packages for their expatriate employees,” says Yvonne Sonsino, principal at Mercer in a release. “Organizations can struggle to find suitably qualified local staff when operating overseas and so rely on benchmark data to ensure the rewards they offer encourage employees with transferable skills to accept international assignments.”  

What’s unclear is how a manager, worker or job seeker might use this information. Would you move yourself or your offices to Munich from because it scored a 106.9 compared to Bern’s 106.5? There is no statistical difference between those scores.  

Credit the authors with including this insightful footnote in their report: “A city with a high Quality of Living index is a safe and stable one, but it may be lacking the dynamic je ne sais quoi that makes people want to live in world-renowned cities such as Paris, Tokyo, London or New York. Sometimes you need a little spice to make a city exciting. But that ’spice’ may also give a city a lower ranking.”

Note to Mercer: that spice is called life.