Study: global corporate mobility undergoing constant changes

Every year, global mobility seems to face new and more complex challenges. The Covid 19 pandemic, in particular, has led to important changes in global mobility in recent years and seems to have permanently altered the future of the sector.

And while many of the measures put in place during the pandemic are no longer in place, other aspects continue to be and are likely to continue to be, decisive factors in corporate travel management.

This is shown by the recent "Mobility Outlook Survey" by AIRINC. This human resources company advises companies on issues related to international mobility.

For their study, the team of experts asked 212 companies worldwide for their current assessments of the future of international mobility. At 45 per cent, the largest proportion of companies surveyed was located in Europe, followed by 39 per cent of American companies and 10 per cent of Asian companies.

Global mobility is an asset in the search for new talent

The constraints imposed by the pandemic on the global economy have highlighted how quickly digitalisation and mobile working can be implemented - even in companies that previously thought it was difficult to achieve. The results show that 37% of the companies surveyed believe that the global mobility function has fundamentally changed since the pre-pandemic era.

Why is this happening?

The responsibilities of the mobility function, which is known for its compliance expertise, are not limited to the usual aspects of international mobility. Companies have discovered that global mobility is not only a necessity, but also brings many opportunities and new courses of action. 17 per cent now make targeted use of international opportunities to attract and retain new talent. Thus, global mobility is now seen as a prestige factor. Almost half (48 percent) of the companies expect this trend to continue and to grow, if not now, then in the future. It is therefore becoming increasingly important for companies to skilfully coordinate their overall mobility management with the search for new staff.

The concept of mobility is becoming more complex

But the "Global Mobility" attribute does not only make employers attractive to national professionals. It also shows professionals from other countries that as a company you have the ability to lead and manage well across national borders. Initially, according to the authors of the study, companies rarely associated the term "mobility" with anything other than compliance issues that might arise when teleworking. But the world is becoming increasingly mobile, so employers need to prepare for a diversification of the theme. 46% expect an increase in the application of international guidelines for telework.

Flexibility, speed, and cost transparency

These expectations also imply greater flexibility in travel management. "Global Mobility" also means the need to offer innovative solutions to meet new and changing requirements, while simplifying management.

And while companies need more and more flexibility, their priorities remain speed and cost transparency. To achieve this level of service, mobility programmes are constantly looking for ways to improve their processes. Around three-quarters of companies surveyed favour the use of new or improved technology to improve the implementation and management of global mobility issues.

However, the two most common technology-related issues are the lack of connection to large HR information systems and the difficulty of obtaining relevant performance indicators.