EUROPE CONFERENCE


Peggy Smith acknowledged that more


could be done to market mobility around experience. On the west coast of the US, mobility was more progressive, yielding good results. If you achieve, you get a mobility assignment, but employers need help with getting to that position. Steve Cryne felt that too many


governments were not keeping up with the needs of business. Archaic views on migration and immigration and stealing jobs from domestic workforces were unhelpful and did not reflect reality. Every single country was talking about shortages of skilled talent, and all were chasing a small number of people with skills and experience, he explained. He felt that business had to be at the


Leigh Goodsell, EuRA 2017 At three in ten or more, those working in marketing, advertising


or public relations, arts, entertainment or recreation, aerospace/ defence, mining, natural resources or forestry, and the oil and gas industry were the most inclined to say they would be very likely to consider temporary relocation for up to two years if given a 10 per cent increase in salary. Those who were most enticed by the prospect included senior


executives and decision-makers, those aged under 35, business owners, and those who were unmarried. The proportion of employees willing to relocate as much as


doubled when some extra incentives were on offer. These included a guaranteed option to return to their current role after two years, paid language training, airline tickets for family visits, and immigration and/or career assistance for a spouse or partner. However, employees proved less motivated to relocate,


regardless of virtually all incentives, than they were in 2012. For Steve Cryne, “the growing populist opposition towards migration and more restrictive immigration regulations in some countries are factors that will discourage employees from considering a move to those destinations”. Nearly 37 per cent of respondents strongly agreed that location


was a major factor in whether or not they chose to relocate. Compared with the 2012 survey, fewer said they wanted to


relocate to the US, though, at three in ten, the US remained the country employees most wanted to relocate to. It was followed by Canada, the UK, Australia, Germany and Switzerland.


Unpacking the survey’s findings Peggy Smith commented that, because the survey was carried out after the inauguration of the new Trump government, its findings reflected what she was hearing in the US. The strong business agenda was liked, but potential changes to immigration were not. She had observed “a bit of energy” around some protectionism,


and was interested to see how that would affect WERC members. Ms Smith was also seeing an explosion of business travellers.


There was a growing trend for employees to want to change jobs every 18 to 24 months, and companies were having to embrace the needs of Generation Z, she said. She explained that, while she was bullish about mobility, it was different from the mobility of five years ago.


table with government to build the success of a country, and that mobility had a role in doing that. He also felt the new government in Canada was speaking the right language,


welcoming a global talent stream with open arms, and that the Canadian population was behind this approach. Jesse van Sas had observed a creeping reluctance to move. He


wondered how it would play out, as many over-40s saw expatriation as a step in their career progression, while younger people were looking for experiences. Speaking about removals and the long term, Mr van Sas


commented that the industry had responded to various changes over the years; this was natural in any sector. With regard to Brexit, he felt that, once it had happened, the insecurity would go away. If insecurity persists, however, organisations don’t invest, and


that is detrimental.


Championing mobility Jesse van Sas made the point that business must get its head around strategic growth and the advantages of mobility. As an industry sector, mobility needed to get this message across to senior levels of business, and this was the most important thing that we, as business leaders, could do. For the moving sector, numbers were increasing but shipments


were smaller. Mr van Sas observed that young people didn’t place the same value on taking their possessions with them, preferring to buy when they reached their destination. For the removals sector, there was the same admin cost for a smaller move, and less revenue. Mr van Sas urged the industry to hold up a mirror and tell clients what was happening in their market and region. Steve Cryne felt it was an exciting time to be in the mobility


industry. Businesses were looking outward – they had to be global, because domestic markets were not big enough. Predictions from management consultancies were that we would see significant growth. Those firms that could harness technology and have new solutions would succeed. Mr Cryne ended by urging the relocation profession to get


into the headspace of decision-makers and explain the value of global mobility.


Keep up to date with Brexit path destinations via the Countries pages of relocateglobal.com


44 | Re:locate | Summer 2017


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