This research uses a longitudinal qualitative dataset and quantitative methods to investigate how shocks influence the career sustainability of assigned and self-initiated expatriates. Study 1 comprises qualitative data collection and analysis (n = 50), which suggests that nonroutine, transient, disruptive events have an important role in driving variations in expatriates’ proactive behaviours towards the sustainability of their careers. In Study 2, we build on event system theory (Morgeson et al., 2015) to examine the relative applicability of proactive career behaviours (Hirschi et al., 2014) in explaining the effects of multi-level shocks on career sustainability and how this differs for AEs and SIEs. Results show a stronger relationship between perceived shocks and proactive career behaviours for assigned expatriates than for self-initiated expatriates.
