An A-Z Guide to Global Mobility Services

Staff hiring is becoming increasingly globalized, with companies considering worldwide employment to expand their operations internationally or address the local talent shortage. However, most companies face operational and compliance challenges in this process, from the complexities of organizing the international payroll to managing employee benefits on the international level.

A comprehensive solution to this challenge comes from global mobility services. This article introduces this new term and explains how companies can simplify and streamline their employee management with its help.

What is Global Mobility Services?

Let’s start with the explanation of global mobility services meaning to understand their significance in present-day HR management.

So, what is global mobility services? In simple words, it is your ability to recruit and manage employees in multiple countries. This service industry facilitates the movement of existing employees across borders for work assignments of different durations. It typically covers numerous administrative and accounting tasks, from immigration documentation to taxes, compliance, and employee integration support. In a more recent interpretation, it also extends to compliant hiring of staff in international locations for project-based or contractual assignments and permanent work.

Types of Arrangements Global Mobility Covers

Your employees may move across borders for different periods of time and perform different kinds of work assignments in various locations. In terms of international mobility, these assignments come in the following forms:

• Short-term business travel. This type of work-related activity presupposes a brief trip abroad with a specific task assigned to an employee.
• Workation. This is a blend of work and vacation, which is usually initiated by the employee and presupposes their temporary trip to a different location without interrupting the execution of job duties.
• Short-term assignments. Short-term employee relocations usually last 3-12 months and have to meet a particular set goal, such as local staff training, temporary vacancy filling, or project-based work.
• Long-term assignments. Long-term employee relocations last 1-3 years and may cover more far-reaching tasks, from regional office setup to new market development.
• Permanent assignments. A permanent relocation may be undertaken upon the employee’s initiative (e.g., unification with the family) or by the employer (e.g., recruitment of a new employee for an on-site job).

Benefits of Working with a Global Mobility Provider

By partnering with a provider of global mobility support, companies can enjoy the following benefits:

• Access to the global talent pool. As the talent shortage worldwide continues to rise, companies are increasingly pressured to hire employees beyond their immediate locations. That’s why hiring worldwide has become more commonplace, giving employers greater flexibility in choosing candidates with the needed tech stack and experience.
• New market access. By either relocating the existing staff to new locations or hiring directly from international locations, companies can open new markets for their operations and tap into new customer bases.
• Lower labor costs. By getting an opportunity for safe and compliant hiring of staff in less costly regions, companies can save on pay rates and reduce their labor costs considerably.
• Compliant workforce management. The use of a well-organized global mobility program reduces the legal risks for companies and helps them avoid penalties for non-compliant activities abroad.
• Higher employee retention and satisfaction. Previously, moving to a new location meant the need to find a new job in the new place. With global mobility services, companies may retain staff that relocate for personal and family reasons, thus promoting employee loyalty and ensuring a high level of retention.

The Scope of Global Mobility Service Coverage

Which services can you expect to get from a global mobility provider? We at GEOR offer to include the following aspects into the program:

Challenges Related to Accessing Global Mobility Services

Compliance is one of the major risks of expanding business internationally. If you fail to make all proper arrangements for your staff’s temporary or permanent work in a target jurisdiction, local tax authorities may suspect you of full-scale operations in that location. In case your staff’s presence in the target jurisdiction on a permanent basis is proved, you may be found liable for all corporate tax deductions. Therefore, all companies need to approach international hiring or staff relocation wisely to avoid undesirable tax deductions or double taxation.

Another common challenge that workforce recruitment on an international scale comes with is payroll. It is technically and legally challenging to make all international payroll arrangements correct and compliant. You need to hold correct and complete records on the staff’s earnings, business tax withholdings, applicable currency exchange rates, and reporting requirements for specific jurisdictions. A failure to provide these reports to responsible agencies may result in high fines.

Finally, companies should organize staff relocation in line with the immigration laws and rules of work in the target country. Those who move to other countries with permanent or temporary assignments should have relevant visas and work permits that ensure their legal stay in the country. These arrangements may be time-consuming and demanding for businesses.

Partner with GEOR to Enjoy Best Practices in Mobility Service Provision

GEOR can develop and execute a comprehensive global mobility program for your business. It may include the following aspects and best practices:

✔ A clear, well-defined workforce management strategy aligned with your business goals. The strategy will come with concise KPIs for success measurement.
✔ The use of software and real-time staff tracking platforms to enable efficient management.
✔ End-to-end support to all internationally employed staff, with regular communication and feedback, guaranteeing an employee-centric approach.
✔ International compliance and risk management. GEOR experts conduct real-time compliance management and engage third-party consultants for issue resolution in complex cases or problematic jurisdictions.
✔ We continually review and adapt programs and policies to keep them relevant to the international employee mobility requirements.

This way, our global mobility program can drive your business growth and ensure employee satisfaction across jurisdictions.