As we begin to see an exit out of the global pandemic what have we learned, adopted, and innovated within our industry? Lucinda Burman, from relocation company, Cornerstone, looks at the key trends for the rest of 2021 and beyond.
A quick review of 2020
The global mobility industry pre 2020 and Covid-19 was a highly effective industry estimated to be around $31.5 billion in 2019. However, as we all know, it experienced an obvious slow down as the pandemic hit. This gave way to the revaluation of mobility policies, with reviews being made to ensure companies responded effectively to the new set of circumstances. This included the a doption of new practices, a strong lean towards innovation to circumnavigate new obstacles, and the need for services to function virtually.
Transport and logistics was one of the worst hit industries globally. This required new approaches, behaviour and ways of conducting the entire relocation process. If we just take immigration as an example, with continual changes to cross-border travel, government legislation, delays, new health requirements and quarantine, companies needed to continually create new, country specific, policies.
Many companies chose to put their relocation programmes on hold, shortened them, and perhaps even questioned whether they still met their objectives. They also potentially questioned if the objectives themselves had changed or whether a long-term assignment would now become a permanent transfer, subsequently avoiding reassignment or repatriation costs.
What’s next … 2021 and beyond? ...
Photo: Lucinda Burman, Cornerstone.