Global Mobility: What to Watch

The recent pandemic affected working practices and relocations across the world. Flexible working practices have emerged influencing the location of employees of global organisations, plus the nature of international assignments.

As we emerge from the pandemic, how have the last two years impacted on global mobility today? Here are four trends currently influencing the nature and requirements of international relocations.

4 Global Mobility Trends in 2022

1. More Remote Working

The global mobility is forecast to grow become a sector worth $33.5bn by the end of 2022, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 4%. This is despite an unprecedented growth in remote working, with 64% of professionals expecting remote working to become standard. (90% of employers say that working remotely hasn't hurt productivity.)

Looking ahead, 73% of employers say they expect a quarter or more of their workforce to continue working remotely post-pandemic. And one in three expect half or more of their employees to do so. Before the pandemic, only 1 in 30 employers allowed for remote working. Global mobility services need to cater for this changing landscape.

2. Success Factors

Critical factors in the implementation of international mobility programmes in the coming year are:

1. Understanding and addressing new compliance and risk requirements
2. Redefining mobility value proposition
3. Implementing better mobile employee tracking
4. Improving mobility data and reporting availability and use
5. Realigning mobility services to meet new employee needs
6. Managing impact of organisational cost pressures on mobility
7. Digitising mobility programme management and delivery
8. Creating new rewards for virtual mobility and benefits policies
9. Improving duty of care procedure
10. Changing employee mobility rewards and benefits policies

3. Flexibility

A greater mix of assignment durations and package types is envisaged for future global mobility, meeting assignee priorities as well as business needs. This is likely to involve shorter term assignments with destination support services offering a wider mix of support tailored to individual assignees and their families.

Research envisages that 50% of the current workforce is aged 26 – 41 years. These ‘Millennials’ typically have less job loyalty than older employees. Retaining key talent will therefore involve meeting employee expectations regarding the nature and level of support involved with international relocations. 25% of global mobility teams aim to focus on improving assignee experience and reviewing assignment policies in 2022.

4. Employee Wellbeing

‘Duty of care’ is a key ingredient of employee support. Increasingly this involves tax, legal and immigration compliance as well as employee safety and security. BTR has a proven network of partners to provide this complex mix, adapting to individual assignees and destination requirements as needed.

“International relocations involve a wider range of destinations and durations compared with pre-pandemic times,” says Louise Chilcott of BTR. “Shorter durations, adaptable support packages and a global reach to accommodate a wider location requirements are crucial to success. We are proud that BTR has a proven network of partners to provide this complex mix, adapting to individual assignees and destination requirements as needed.”

To find out more, contact Louise for an informal discussion without obligation.