The year 2020, which once seemed so distant, is approaching rapidly - 

The future promises to look very different, particularly in the way the global workforce is sourced, organised and managed; an explosion of activity and business growth potential in emerging markets has already contributed to a significant increase in the need for companies to move people and source talent from around the world.

Talent mobility is in the grip of radical change and in this report we investigate the emerging trends, what they mean for talent, mobility and resourcing strategies, and the urgent need for alignment with wider business growth plans and strategy. 

We’ve drawn from several sources in producing this report:

• Information from our database representing 900 companies that have been surveyed on assignment trends over the past 20 years.
• Findings from scenario planning studies for our Managing tomorrow’s people series, which explored the future of work to 2020.¹
• Results from PwC’s annual global CEO survey.²
• Findings from PwC’s 2011 survey of millennials, which resulted in more than 4,300 responses.³
• Interviews with PwC talent mobility specialists supported by the viewsof several global organisations from around the world.

Our conclusions paint a business world that’s far removed from that of today. Talent and mobility strategies will need to progress significantly to keep pace with this change and the further increases in mobile employee numbers we expect to see. We’re not yet consigning existing models for international assignments to the history books, but the changes underway surely call for a radical rethink.

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Executive Summary: The business world is changing rapidly and this has transformed the way the global workforce is sourced, organised and managed, knowledge, trade, technology, capital and goods are more globally connected than ever before. 

Explosive growth in emerging markets is creating a huge increase in the number of employees working outside their home location and critical shortages in talent in specific markets and disciplines have pushed mobility up the boardroom agenda. 

But this isn’t mobility as it’s been understood in the past; this is modern mobility and it brings its own unique set of challenges:

More mobility â€" but not as we know it.

Assignee levels have increased by 25% over the past decade; we predict a further 50% growth in mobile employees by 2020. But the era where assignments meant a three or four-year relocation followed by a return home is coming to an end.

New forms of global mobility have developed in response to business demands and employee preferences, many of which don’t involve relocation at all.

New talent, new destinations.

The growing importance of emerging markets has created a significant shift in mobility patterns. Skilled employees from emerging markets are increasingly in demand at home and abroad.

Domestic multinationals are increasingly attractive to local talent. Delivery of the mobility experience and the underpinning career promise (or ‘deal’) will become more critical in the future as new, unfamiliar and often less desirable locations come into play.

Giving people what they want.

Mobility opportunities are now recognised as a key element in attracting, retaining, developing and engaging talent. This is particularly true of the millennial generation; 71% say they want and expect an overseas assignment during their career.

But as the workforce becomes more diverse this inevitably affects global mobility strategies. The number of female assignees, for example, has doubled in the past 10 years from 10% to 20%. 

The preferences and expectations of mobile employees will have to be carefully managed in the next decade.

Read the full report here.

Notes

1 Managing tomorrow’s people: The future of work to 2020, PwC
2 PwC’s 15th Annual Global CEO Survey, 2012
3 Millennials at work: Reshaping the workplace, PwC, 2011