Hiring a skilled worker from another country takes months. There’s the search, the interviews, often an LMIA, the work permit, travel, and the first weeks of training. So it’s a real blow when that person resigns before their first anniversary. It happens more often than many employers expect, and the reasons are usually predictable.

The job is rarely the main problem

When international hires leave early, it’s seldom because they can’t do the work. More often, life outside work isn’t going the way they expected. Housing is the most common example. A welder who arrives in a mid-sized Ontario city may spend the first month in a short-term rental costing far more than he planned, while trying to find a lease without any Canadian rental history or credit score. If rent takes most of his first few pay cheques, it’s hard to stay positive about the move, however good the job is.

Family separation is the second big factor.…