EXPATRIATION CHALLENGES AND WORK-LIFE ENRICHMENT DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

The work-family interface (WFI) has been a challenge for expatriates, in their international assignments. This work aims to identify changes in the WFI of expatriates who performed their work abroad, in home office during the COVID-19 pandemic, and, if there was a personal and / or professional learning experience that could enrich future expatriations. A descriptive-analytical research was used, with a qualitative approach of twelve semi-structured interviews with expatriates. The content analysis was based on six thematic categories. The findings revealed that: (i) the pressure for results has not changed, but the way to achieve them is more related to the flexibility and resilience to deal with the division of space and time of work and non-work, (ii) the pandemic decreased the impact of sex on the WFI, and brought a positive dynamics in family functioning with family members supporting each other, (iii) parental figures redefined their family routine and new agreements were made on the division of childcare and housework, (iv) the fact that the expatriate is at home all day favored socializing and the exchange of experiences among family members, (v) the family had a positive impact on work and helped expatriates to better interact with their co-workers, and to reflect on the introduction of new behaviors in their daily lives, leading to a work-family enrichment, and, (vi) qualitative and quantitative changes in future expatriations will occur, with a possible decrease in the number of international assignments, increase in remote work and the search for a balance between personal and professional life.