Global Mobility Lessons Learned from the Pandemic

As the world has become increasingly connected, organizations have come to rely on sharing knowledge among offices, teams and projects through global mobility. Moving sought-after experts to the site that needs their skills the most was a routine part of normal life. Whether it was a quick trip to a neighbouring state or a lengthy assignment in a different country or even embracing life as an expat, transcending borders was a conventional practice.

Border closures impact global mobility. 

Thanks to COVID-19, international relocation has come to a grinding halt. Border closures have changed how we work, who does the work and from which location. In some cases, even national travel was paused. For many technical industries that rely on rare and highly specialized experts, they’ve felt the biggest impact. Finding and attracting the right talent for the right project at the right time is always a challenge and now it’s only become more complex.

As a provider of agile workforce solutions, Easy Skill finds the right talent anywhere in the world and moves international experts to where they’re needed most. But with global health at risk, companies are prioritising the safety and well-being of employees, which poses a threat to continuous operations. Unfortunately, many are struggling to find local expertise when facing competitive markets and skills shortages.

International relocation scarce but possible. 

Thankfully working with the right global mobility partner can make all the difference. We recently teamed up with Thomas Foods International (TFI) to help them find an experienced Electrical Supervisor in Tamworth, Australia. After an exhaustive 18-month internal search, they asked Easy Skill to lend a hand. The right talent was quickly identified, hired and set to relocate from New Zealand when the borders closed in April 2020. With some perseverance and intense collaboration with governments, immigration agents and the executive team, we finally obtained the approvals to execute the relocation. It was a win for everyone involved.

The reality is that global mobility is more challenging than ever. Border closures are serving as a catalyst for organizations to evaluate how to improve workplace collaboration across different offices, states and countries. And there’s never been a better time to figure out how to improve the way we approach work with the availability of an incredible range of tools, software and technology. There are a few key trends at the forefront:

1. Investing in post-pandemic resilience. 

   Progressive companies are considering how to build in safeguards to protect against potential future disruptions. Many are turning to artificial intelligence, process automation and software systems to reduce their reliance on exclusively human-operated work. For organizations in favourable positions, they’re taking the opportunity to invest in technology-driven processes.

2. Embracing remote workforces. 

   Out of necessity, the pandemic has taught organizations how resilient they are in terms of unlocking the hidden power of remote working. Despite the availability of tech tools, many companies still preferred in-office work cultures. Now many organizations have realized their ability to be productive even when remote and many have opted to embrace hybrid working models on a long-term basis, which will drive the evolution of collaboration tools.

3. Scalable knowledge sharing. 

   Rather than sending an individual expert from location to location, organizations are favouring innovation in training programs and remote knowledge sharing. Companies will continue to blend technology and tools to create new ways to transfer knowledge, standard operating procedures and capture real-time information to get work done without the need for human travel.

If there’s one thing the pandemic has shown us is that we’re capable of more than we thought before. There’s a lot of untapped potential to refine how we embrace an authentic global mindset and elevate our approach to work. Organizations have already begun rapidly adopting a more strategic approach to global mobility, flexible work tools, remote teams and knowledge sharing. It’s an exciting time to be a part of change, globalization and post-pandemic resilience.