Why are Global Relocations Getting Harder?

Those of us in the global mobility sector know that moving people for work is becoming more and more difficult, but fewer of us can put a finger on why exactly. The answer is in fact many fold, with a variety of factor working together to cause more problems and resistance in all areas of the relocation lifecycle. One of the most important factors, however, is the increased kickback from assignees.

In the past, experienced professionals were jumping at the chance to relocate to new and exciting pastures, but nowadays it’s only the younger, less experienced, and less desired staff who are interested. This causes a clear issue for companies when the clear driver behind employee relocation is the redistribution of essential business-critical skills across the globe. We take a look at some of the reasons behind this shift, and what you can do to combat it.

Reduced Stability

One of the top reasons talents are currently less willing to move is that they are worries about the possibility of being out of work in the current (unstable) job market. Although this sounds counter-intuitive at first, many assignees are worried about the new pressures that their job abroad will bring, and are concerned about not fulfilling company expectations in their latest post, and thus losing their position. Also, workers now put great stock in the value of their professional networks, which can be significantly reduced in effectiveness when living across the world.

Family Troubles

Another major issue for relocating existing, mid-career talents across the globe is the presence of strong family ties at home. Many of the more experienced professionals who would make for ideal assignees from a company perspective often have families embedded within the community which they are usually hesitant to uproot. The most obvious complication here is children who are still in full-time education, and it is easy to see why, when parents will not want to disturb their leaning. Another vital aspect to cover is also that many established employees will have partners in established careers that they may be extremely reluctant to leave. All of these factors combined to make families a significant source of contention when trying to relocate staff.

Package Problems

On top of these problems, the relocation packages many firms are offering nowadays are nowhere near as attractive as they used to be. As companies look, quite sensibly, to cut costs, a natural measure has been to reduce the extensiveness of what they are willing to cover when it comes to staff relocations. The unfortunate downside of this, of course, is that staff are now much less willing to incur the perceived reduction in job stability and the stress that comes with uprooting their families.

Technology Brings Social Solutions

These problems and many others faced by global mobility professionals in their work can be solved relatively easily through communication, but are often not. One of the reasons why these are not adequately addressed is that relocation staff are regularly overworked and are unable to devote the appropriate time to speak with the assignees. The quantity of paperwork is extensive for each relocation, with some estimating somewhere in the region of 175 tasks which need to be accomplished for each one.

Thankfully the number of project management software tools for the global mobility environment is increasing, with platforms now available for all sorts of needs and budgets. The beauty of these software solutions is that they can automate many of the more laborious tasks currently facing relocation professionals, and assist with many other aspects of the work. In turn, they free up time which can be spent interacting directly with the assignees, so that needs and concerns can be more accurately addressed, and ensuring that the company funds which are available are put to the best use in each case.