2024 Predictions For Global Mobility

This year, I’ve had the pleasure of speaking to close to 1000 Mobility folk in one form or another & if there’s one thing that’s clear, things are moving quickly in our industry. It's been a tough year for many but I continue to be amazed by the strength of the GM Community and ingenuity in the face of adversity. As we put a bow on 2023 and head into winter festivities, here are my top 5 predictions for Global Mobility in 2024.??

1. Mobility programs absorb more in order to thrive - there’s such an interesting changing of the guard in Global Mobility right now. On the one hand, traditional “Expat Assignments” are down in pretty much every industry (except Oil & Gas…). However, on the other, there’s so, so much opportunity for Global Mobility to do more and we’re already seeing the most forward thinking Mobility departments expand their sphere of influence to include areas such as Internal Mobility, Grads, Remote Work, Self-driven Moves, Interns, Location Strategy and more. The unique skills of GM allow teams to drive real change internally and it will be exciting to see new use cases continue to emerge. What could you add into your program next year??
2. RMC Business Model changes - this continued evolution in relocation types will continue to lead to changes in business models for vendors in the industry. The classic RMC model just doesn’t work very well for many types of modern relocation…it’s hard to justify a management fee if there aren’t lots of suppliers to manage, it’s hard to command referral fees from suppliers outside your supply chain and Home Sale / Managed Shipping programs continue to dwindle. However, there are more and more opportunities to add value and we’ll continue to see business models evolve around new tech products and new service lines. Some will adapt better than others!
3. AI, AI, AI - the buzzletters of 2023 conference season - and yet I’ve still struggled to find many “fully” transforming their work (yet) through AI in Global Mobility. Lots of efficiency gains for sure, but I still think GM is searching for the “hero” use cases. 2024 will start to see “true” use cases be unlocked for GM specifically (beyond just “general” efficiency gains). For me, the key winners in this space are likely to be knowledge sharing bots (cutting down queries for vendors / GM teams), automating immigration application processes (reducing those expensive immigration fees) & optimising costs (analysing where costs can be shaved in the program). I can’t wait to see the creative use cases our Community does come up with though
4. Cost Cutting >> Vendor Consolidation + Capped Costs - 2024 is likely to be another tough year for budgets as many companies continue to batten down the hatches on spend / new investment. In the world of GM - I expect this to keep driving two themes we started seeing in 2023:A) Capping costs - Programs will keep evolving to cap their costs (nobody likes that $75k household goods bill coming in 6 months post initiation) but offer employees more flexibility to compensate & improve the employee experienceB) Multi-product companies - Companies will look to consolidate their spend with vendors who can provide solutions for multiple problems. CFOs are asking leaders about any and all costs in a striving for savings. It’s typically harder to justify single use solutions (e.g assignment mgmt) in this space and so expect to see existing players expanding their suite of products and some industry consolidation as well
5. Remote Work Years replace / compliment sabbaticals - a slightly fun, left field one to finish off the predictions. 2023 was the year of RTO mandates & sharpened Work From Anywhere policies to “control” the amount of stealthy Expats out there living outside their country of residence. However, as companies get comfortable with their policies post Covid, will the most-forward thinking companies start offering Remote Work years as a benefit (Perch&Work Years)? With Nomad visas finally becoming easier / faster to obtain, I can see a world in which companies offer a “perk” of being able to do a Remote Work year (or two!) after a certain number of years of employment. Sabbaticals are known to be a great retention tool but many employees can’t afford them and many companies can’t absorb the loss of productivity. Why not allow employees to work from somewhere else for a year or two instead?

Whilst 2023’s been a tough year for most folks in the industry, there’s still no doubt in my mind that more and more people are going to be mobile over the coming decade than the previous one. Whilst the reasons may change, there are still so many problems associated with relocating that I’m optimistic for what’s to come. Here’s to 2024 and embracing the change ahead ????