Episode 32: It’s a Big World After All: Going Global with Mark Azzarello, International Paper

The American economy crosses borders, oceans, time zones, cultures, languages and great walls. And therefore, compensation and benefits has gone global, too. For many multinational companies, figuring out how to scale employee benefits for a global population is a critical element of their economic competitiveness. Here at the Council, we’re engaged on global benefits in numerous ways, from functioning as the U.S. chapter of the International Employee Benefit Association (or “IEBA”) to serving as a private-sector advisor to the U.S. delegation to the Organizational for Economic Cooperation and Development. We’re also focused on practical matters for global employee benefit plan sponsors like governance, controlling costs, health plan offerings, employee mobility, mergers and acquisitions and much, much more.

In this episode, host Jason Hammersla talks to Mark Azzarello, vice president, global compensation & benefits, for the International Paper Company. Azzarello is a member of the American Benefits Council’s board of directors and chair of the Council’s Global Benefits Committee. In this wide-ranging conversation, Azzarello describes the objectives of the Global Benefits Committee and the upshot of the group’s October 2019 meeting. He also describes International Paper’s distinctive approach to employee benefits policy including global governance, employee financial wellness and electronic disclosure.