Pulse Session: Mobility Blueprint Key Takeaways

What are the factors that will have the biggest influence on the future of global workforce mobility?

Recently, Sterling Lexicon’s Kristin White, Director of Thought Leadership and PR, and Clarissa Burns, Director of Account Management in EMEA, hosted a Pulse Session webinar to discuss some of the highlights from Sterling Lexicon’s 2026 Global Mobility Blueprint survey. Gathering data from mobility professionals across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC, the survey explored predictions about the top priorities, assignment types, and technology trends shaping the industry heading into 2026.

Here we provide a concise summary of the key topics explored.

Top Insights from the 2026 Global Mobility Blueprint

• A new tie for the top priority

For the first time, talent acquisition and retention tied with improving the employee experience for the number-one priority. This highlights a crucial shift: providing a genuinely personalized, empathetic experience is now recognized as a vital strategic tool for both retaining existing talent and onboarding new employees.

• A rebalancing of cost control

Interestingly, cost-saving measures dropped from the number-two priority last year to number five this year. This suggests that corporate employee relocation programs are either becoming more efficient at forecasting budgets, mobility professionals have done a good job at educating their stakeholders on what reasonable levels of financial investment entail, or they may need to consider rebalancing past cost constraints to ensure the assignee experience is not suffering as a result. The fact that improving the experience consistently remains a top priority suggests that it’s worth examining the relationships between satisfaction levels and assignment types, support provided, employee life stage needs and overall costs.

• The rapid evolution of AI

Somewhat surprisingly, the survey indicated a relatively low (27%) number of people using AI within their mobility programs specifically. However, as Clarissa shared from a poll she took asking the same question at an industry event earlier this year, a more even split between those who are and are not using it suggests that that number is growing quickly. It also raises the question about whether we have arrived at a true definition or understanding of what we really mean when we talk about applying AI to mobility programs. When thoughtfully integrated, AI can help automate repetitive tasks, freeing up HR and mobility leaders to focus on strategic initiatives and the human empathy and decision-making required to support relocating employees.

• Agility in assignment types

While the permanent transfer is still expected to remain a dominant assignment type, there appears to be a growing interest in alternative moves, particularly in response to the ongoing – and escalating – volatility we’ve seen in the first quarter of this year. Approximately 20% of respondents are looking to support short-term assignments, project work, extended business travelers and commuter arrangements, suggesting a need for greater agility in workforce mobility assignments.  As Clarissa notes, the best approaches will very likely differ by region, industry sector and the ultimate goals of the move.

• The continued evolutionary journey of global mobility teams

We are seeing a bit of a shift in where global mobility is housed within an organization. More respondents indicating that they report into blended HR and finance, or HR and talent acquisition functions seems to reinforce that mobility is increasingly viewed as an integral driver of broader business and talent strategy goals.