Career satisfaction antecedents of professional accounting returnees in international workplaces : an employee experience perspective

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the determinants of career satisfaction of professional accounting returnees who have studied and/or worked abroad and then returned to work in different types of international workplaces in their home country. Design/methodology/approach: A survey of professional accounting returnees in Vietnam was undertaken and multiple regression analysis was applied to test the proposed relationships. Findings: This study finds that career satisfaction is affected by career fit, career sacrifice, types of international workplaces (domestically headquartered firms versus globally headquartered firms) and cross-cultural work readjustment. Further, cross-cultural work readjustment partially mediates the effect of career fit and career sacrifice on career satisfaction. Practical implications: The research provides the basis for designing career-related employee experiences to support career satisfaction of professional accounting returnees. Originality/value: This study integrates dimensions of career embeddedness with cross-cultural work readjustment and employee experiences, which are normally studied separately, in different types of international workplaces. It contributes to the limited research on contributors to well-being in the form of career satisfaction among professional returnees in an emerging economy.