The global pandemic, talent shortages, and economic uncertainty have rewritten the script for business success. To navigate this new reality, employers have had to rethink their workforce planning, often at lightning speed.

Helen Osele, AGS Relocation’s Director for Implementation and Supply Chain, and Monish Sharma, Head of Global Mobility Operations for India, share the new workforce trends they’re seeing and how global mobility service providers can adjust to meet employers’ evolving needs.

A Shift in Demographics and Priorities

Today’s globally mobile workforce looks vastly different to only a few years ago. For Helen Osele, a major reason is the re-evaluation of the work-life balance triggered by the pandemic. Traditional assignees, professionals aged 30 to 40, are now prioritizing family over career. “Many are not willing to uproot children from school or ask a spouse to pause their career. The cost of disrupting the family is simply too high,” she says.

This shift has led to assignee populations becoming both younger and older. For the younger cohort, fewer responsibilities make it easy to pack up and go. The same is true for more senior professionals and early retirees whose children have left home. “They take their experience and a couple of suitcases. Their spouses are also happier to tag along – they see it as an adventure,” Osele says.

For Monish Sharma, the rise of the self-initiating assignee, an employee who wants to work abroad for a better lifestyle, is another key change, driven by the pressures of the talent crunch. “Skills are in short supply. If a company has them, they don't want to let them go,” he notes. “They’re willing to let their good people work from anywhere they want and will even cover the cost of their relocation.”

In the main, however, ongoing global economic uncertainty means most employers are focused on cutting costs. For global mobility programs, this has resulted in shorter assignments, leaner global mobility teams, and shorter time to implementation. Employers still require global mobility support, but the services they need have changed.

What Employers Want Now

Their biggest demand? Immigration services. Sharma says companies expect their service providers to have a complete menu of visas and work permits at their fingertips, tailored to each destination, worker, and assignment profile. Being able to advise on the best visa solutions or troubleshoot challenges when regulations change has become central to the value proposition.

As global mobility teams operate with fewer resources, they’re relying on partners to fill other knowledge and bandwidth gaps, too. From navigating compliance to providing expert local knowledge, the onus is on the service provider to step up as a trusted advisor.

Keeping the employee experience front and center remains paramount. But in this cost-sensitive environment, Osele says the industry must get creative, finding new ways to deliver support that makes employees feel valued and cared for without driving up costs.

How Service Providers Can Adapt

Expertise and agility are now essential. Clients want partners who can guide them through the entire mobility process, not just the move. Osele and Sharma point to three specific areas where providers can add more value.

Compliance

Tax, payroll and immigration regulations are rapidly evolving. Providing up-to-date, practical compliance guidance is an invaluable service that many clients simply can't afford in-house.

Agility and technology

Compressed timelines demand faster implementation. Leverage technology to streamline your own processes and to deliver the real-time tracking and seamless communication that are now essential to help clients feel supported.

Strategic partnerships

No single service provider owns the relocation experience anymore. Forging strategic partnerships is key to providing a smooth and holistic assignee experience. Partnerships are not about being able to offer everything, but knowing who to partner with and how.

Welcome to Global Mobility 2.0

In this new world, the script for global mobility has been rewritten, too. Perhaps forever. It’s up to service providers to reimagine what support looks like. In doing that, it’s clear that flexibility, innovation, and a deep understanding of shifting workforce dynamics will be key. Those who can adapt quickly and deliver tailored, employee-centric solutions will set the pace in the market.