In the shadow of Covid-19, the expat life is struggling to survive

Health fears, travel restrictions cause more globe-hopping workers to return; hefty allowances, once de rigueur for international postings, are rarer than ever

Stuck in an apartment with a toddler and a newborn wasn’t Australian Nikki Martin’s dream of the exotic expat life. Like many in Singapore in late January, she was watching anxiously as daily coronavirus case numbers climbed. After seven years working in the city-state, and in the United Arab Emirates before that, there was a small window to leave, and she took it. “I packed a few suitcases, and that was it,” says the 37-year-old marketing executive. “Within 36 hours we were on a plane.”
 
Martin is one of a growing number of expats across Asia and beyond pulling