Employees are embracing the ‘cross-border career’, with 93% saying that working internationally would be “life-changing,” according to the EY 2023 Mobility Reimagined Survey. That life-changing experience is seen as the top benefit of an international assignment, followed by career development, and gaining a global mindset.
The results of the EY survey, as well as the fiscal implications, including social security, from an immigration and legislative perspective, generated by these reinterpreted versions of work, were discussed with representatives of the competent authorities in Romania during the Mobility Conference organised by EY Romania.
The survey canvassed the views of over 1,000 human resources (HR) and mobility professionals and mobile employees across 16 countries and six key sectors addressing various forms of cross-border mobility assignments, including the relocation of employees for work, business travel, commuting and hybrid/remote work.
Ninety percent of employees surveyed would accept a short-term assignment without relocating their families to fill a business need, while 88% are open to longer-term cross-border opportunities under the right circumstances.
Meanwhile, 88% of HR professionals say employers consider mobility as an approach to address global talent shortages and 90% plan to sustain or increase the organization’s scope of mobility over the next three years. Organizations are also seeing the value of workplace flexibility and movement in driving their diversity, equality and inclusiveness (DE&I) goals, with six in ten (61%) saying it provides development and succession opportunities for underrepresented groups. While 3 of every 4 employers (74%) consider mobility crucial for business continuity, less than half (47%) say they have a globally consistent mobility policy addressing options like hybrid mobility, relocation, or temporary projects.
Claudia Sofianu, Partner, People Advisory Services leader, EY Romania: “In the last three years, flexible working relationships have taken on a previously unimagined scale and remote or hybrid working has become a way of life. At this time, transnational mobility is seen by employees as the ‘opportunity of a lifetime’ for personal and professional development.”
“On the other hand, mobility attracts tax implications and interest from the authorities. Information sharing will be an important tool in identifying potential non-compliance. The control campaigns announced by ANAF, the increasing interest from foreign authorities in this respect, are aspects that both employers and employees should certainly pay attention to. Thus, the implementation of internal procedures on secondment, workation/ teleworking and other new ways of working are becoming extremely important”, adds Stela Andrei, Partner, People Advisory Services, EY Romania.
Organizations face new set of risks with international placements
Employers face various risks when activating their cross-border mobility programs, that employees are less likely to see. The most prevalent on HR teams’ radar is cyber risk, cited by 83%, followed by loss of management oversight (79%) and data privacy (78%), as well as the ability to place employees in a new position upon their return (78%) – a concern employees might want to address before they make the move. However, there is a lack of preparedness to deal with ensuing risks, with only 29% strongly agreeing they can deal with geopolitical risks.
Furthermore, many employees fail to recognize the potential risks with cross-border movement. Compared to employers, 18% fewer employees, on an average, are likely to realize the moderate-to-significant risk levels involved in international experiences.
Corina Mîndoiu, Partner, People Advisory Services, EY Romania: “The European legal framework on social security needs to be constantly updated, taking into account the realities of the post-pandemic labour market, where most employees aspire to international work experience and are no longer limited in choosing their work location.”
Mobility functions undergo digital transformation to address increasing demand
Organizations plan to invest in digitizing their mobility processes as demand for international placements increases. Sixty-seven percent expect to increase their investment in mobility technology and digitization over the next five years, while 92% agree that digitizing the mobility function is beneficial across multiple tasks and workflows. On average, just 35% of respondents say their organization has digitized key processes.