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"Global mobility can no longer be viewed solely through the lens of relocation," says KPMG's mobility expert, Murray Sarelius. Instead, he stresses, the focus should be on how we deploy talent and skills. Event report by Sarah Gideon.
This article is brought to you by KPMG.
For decades, global mobility followed a familiar model: planned long-term assignments, defined home and host locations, expatriate packages, and established tax, immigration, payroll, and compliance pathways.
However, the workforce needs of today no longer fit neatly into that framework.
For example, a leader may be responsible for teams across several countries without needing to relocate permanently. An employee may be keen to gain international experience but unable, or unwilling, to move their family abroad for several years. A business may need specialist expertise in another market within weeks, rather than after a lengthy assignment-planning process.
In those situations, organisations are turning to a broader range of talent deployment models, from short-term projects and cross-border remote work to regional roles and expert-sharing arrangements that span multiple markets.
Against this backdrop, KPMG, in collaboration with Human Resources Online, convened senior HR and mobility leaders on 28 July 2026 for an interactive, closed-door workshop — the first in a two-part series. The conversation explored how organisations can evolve mobility from a relocation-focused function into a more strategic approach to deploying talent, while balancing employee needs, business priorities, cost and compliance.
In this article, Sarah Gideon distils the questions leaders are now asking of global mobility — and the shifts needed to make it a more agile, business-focused tool for deploying talent.
Mobility is more than just relocation, it is about talent deployment
Taking the stage for his opening remarks, Murray Sarelius, Partner and Head of Personal Tax & Global Mobility Services, Tax, KPMG in Singapore, said:
"Global mobility can no longer be viewed solely through the lens of relocation. As organisations respond to evolving workforce needs, it is increasingly becoming a strategic mechanism for deploying talent and critical skills where they are needed most."
This shift does not mean abandoning established policies or compliance controls. This shift could bring about more flexible ways of working and make clear guardrails, accurate data, and robust processes even more important, he highlighted. Cross-border remote working arrangements, for example, can create tax, legal, payroll and regulatory obligations that do not sit comfortably within traditional mobility structures.
He added that a good way to approach this change is to think about what capabilities organisations need and what is the best way to secure talent. Viewed through that lens, mobility becomes closely connected to workforce planning, skills development and broader business strategy.
The business is working to a different timetable
Traditional mobility was designed around planned moves. For example, organisations would identify a need, select an employee, arrange the assignment, and provide robust support. The process could take months, and, for many long-term moves, that approach remains relevant.
However, businesses are being exposed and forced to react to new challenges. Skills shortages, fast-moving projects, and expansion into new markets mean that organisations often create immediate demand for specialised expertise.
“Businesses today often require access to specialist expertise at significantly shorter notice than traditional mobility models were designed to accommodate. As workforce needs evolve, organisations must be equipped with more agile approaches to deploying talent,” said Sarelius.
This places a different expectation on mobility teams. Their role is no longer limited to matching requests against assignment categories. Increasingly, they are expected to help business leaders evaluate available options, understand associated costs and risks, and identify practical ways to access critical skills without creating avoidable compliance challenges.
Mobility is also a talent-development tool
The discussion also highlighted the important role mobility continues to play in developing future leaders.
Participants discussed the role international experience can play in developing leadership capabilities, broader commercial perspectives and deeper cultural awareness. Yet these benefits are no longer tied exclusively to traditional multi-year expatriate assignments.
A shorter-term project, regional remit, or cross-border collaboration can still give someone meaningful exposure to different markets while helping employees develop global perspectives and stronger professional networks.
This matters because not all employees want, or have the flexibility, to take on a major overseas move. KPMG’s Future of Work study found that employees want to preserve the flexibility they experienced during the pandemic, highlighting the importance of accounting for differing personal circumstances and expectations when designing mobility options.
Many employees may welcome opportunities to spend several months supporting a project overseas, managing regional responsibilities or collaborating closely with colleagues in another jurisdiction, without having to relocate their families. Providing multiple pathways to international experience can therefore expand access to development opportunities while strengthening an organisation's pipeline of globally minded talent.
The case for doing so is becoming more pressing as organisations compete for skills. According to KPMG’s 2024 Global Mobility Benchmarking Survey, 70% of respondents identified talent development, attraction and retention as a top priority for their mobility programmes. In this context, mobility can become more than a mechanism for filling a role in another market. Instead, it can be a practical way to broaden development opportunities and strengthen access to scarce capabilities.
Flexibility requires visibility and guardrails
Greater flexibility can create significant opportunities for both employers and employees, but it can also introduce complexity quickly.
The discussion made clear that the challenge is not choosing between flexibility and control. Rather, it is designing arrangements that are flexible, visible and appropriately governed.
That starts with a clearer understanding of:
- where employees are physically working;
- how long they are working there;
- which entities they support;
- the nature and purpose of their work; and
- who has responsibility for reviewing and approving the arrangement.
It also requires closer collaboration across HR, mobility, tax, legal, payroll, immigration and business leaders. Cross-border work often cuts across multiple functions, making clear coordination and ownership crucial.
Visibility, awareness and forward planning of the types of skills the workforce needs is also important. Organisations cannot deploy skills strategically if they do not know where those skills sit. They also need a better understanding of employee preferences – for example, which of their employees are open to short-term stints, keen on a regional role, or those that prefer to remain within their home countries.
This is becoming more important as cross-border work comes under greater scrutiny, especially with changing regulations and disparate systems across countries. However, the approach to this should not be to disregard every request until every possible risk has been eliminated. Participants during the group discussions agreed that organisations should take on a proportionate and balanced approach to the risks involved.
From policy gatekeeper to solution partner
For mobility teams, these changes present an opportunity to redefine their role in this new era of working.
Sarelius said:
"The most effective mobility functions are those that help the business navigate complexity and evaluate options, rather than simply determining whether a request falls within policy."
Many organisations are also seeing the same types of requests emerge repeatedly, whether employees supporting multiple markets, temporary deployments into another jurisdiction or increased international business travel linked to specific projects.
Instead of treating each request as a one-off exception, mobility teams can identify these recurring patterns and design structured pathways to support them. Doing so enables the organisation to respond more quickly while maintaining appropriate governance and oversight.
Cost is part of the talent deployment decision
Cost remains an important consideration, especially when expatriate packages come with housing, school fees, tax equalisation, allowances and relocation support. Businesses are right to ask what value each move delivers and whether the same capability could be accessed in another way.
A long-term assignment may still be the right choice when a business needs leadership continuity, deep local knowledge or sustained knowledge transfer. In other cases, a local appointment supported by temporary specialist expertise may make more sense.
Workshop participants discussed that the cost should be assessed in the context of business objectives. For example, long-term assignments may remain the best option where organisations require sustained leadership presence, deep market knowledge or significant knowledge transfer. In other situations, a local hire supported by short-term specialist expertise may deliver better outcomes.
A strategic mobility function can help leaders see those trade-offs more clearly. Ideally, mobility leaders want to get to a point where they can compare possible scenarios, provide realistic cost projections and show the full financial picture, rather than focusing only on the upfront cost of moving an employee.
Mobility’s next chapter requires a more flexible mindset
Ultimately, mobility is no longer simply about relocating employees from one country to another. It is about ensuring organisations can access, develop and deploy the right skills at the right time while balancing business needs, employee experience, cost and compliance.
As the workshop participants agreed, the future of mobility will not be defined by a single replacement for the traditional expatriate model. Instead, it will be shaped by how effectively organisations expand their mobility toolkit and make informed, case-by-case decisions about the best way to deploy talent in an increasingly dynamic business environment.
Read Human Resources Online’s LinkedIn post for more key takeaways from the session here.
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