More than 60 per cent of people placed on a FAS-sponsored scheme to promote international training became "corporate nomads", a further 19.5 per cent developed an "indeterminate orientation" and only 19.5 per cent made returning to work in Ireland a career priority. This is one of the main findings of a report, Cross-cultural Training and Education, by the Graduate School of Business at UCD.
The report concludes that, "while the scheme acted well in terms of providing cross-cultural education and training at an individual level, the reintegration of these skills back into the local economy was less than optimal".
The study accepts that the overall impact of the FAS Overseas Sponsorship Programme (OSP) was positive and helped develop institutional links between the State, the multinational sector and a new layer of international managers and technical professionals.
However, the study suggests that ex-FAS placements should be made more aware of job opportunities at home and that indigenous firms should be made more aware of the growing reservoir of international managerial and technical talent. It says a new FAS initiative, aimed at creating a "high skills pool" should help address these shortcomings. That scheme already has a database of 7,500 Irish graduates working overseas.
The study also covers the international training and placement practices of large multinational companies operating in Ireland and the implications for Ireland's future competitiveness of international training. Most companies ran such schemes from within their own budgets, and only two-thirds of them were aware of the FAS OSP scheme.
Among the surprising findings of the study is the discovery that participants put a greater value on the personal skills they developed, including sensitivity to different cultures, adaptability to new environments, ability to work in international teams and greater self-reliance, than on technical and language skills they acquired, or even a better working knowledge of their employer's corporate strategy.
The study, carried out by Mr Alastair McPherson and Mr Sean McDonald of UCD, was based on a survey of 140 hi-tech foreign-owned multinationals operating in Ireland in 1976, as well as looking at the FAS OSP programme.
It found that 63 per cent of these companies sent employees abroad for training at other branches. Some 44 per cent of companies used international training facilities for technical professionals and technicians, and 41 per cent sent managerial and administrative staff. Only 15 per cent sent manual operatives away for training and 7 per cent sent clerical staff.
Up to 72 per cent of staff involved in management, including human-resource management, were sent away by some companies. The figure for financial, marketing, sales and staff requiring languages skills was 67 per cent, and that for staff involved in information and other advanced technology training was 66 per cent.