As opportunities for U.S. employers to conduct business in other countries increase, so too does the threat that employees working overseas will be kidnapped, according to recent interviews with security and risk management consultants.

Christopher Voss, managing director and leader of Insite Security's kidnapping resolution practice in New York City and a former supervisory special agent in the FBI's Crisis Negotiation Unit, said there are roughly “50 to 60 American business-related kidnappings annually.”

Amir Lechner, founder of ThreatRate Risk Management in New York City, said professionals who monitor such crimes estimated that there were 75,000 kidnappings worldwide annually a few years ago. “Today, we're talking about 100,000 cases easily,” he said, noting that only one in nine kidnappings is officially reported to law enforcement authorities.

For employers, planning an effective response to the kidnapping of an employee often means getting input from a select group of leaders in the executive, accounting, security, human resources, and legal divisions, various sources said.

Copyright 2011, The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.