Twenty-one thousand miles flown, too many airplane meals consumed, and I'm still shattered. But I’d do it all again. The sheer energy, the laughter, and the authentic community at our Global Mobility (GM) huddles in New York and Singapore were worth every hour of jet lag.
We met with over 70 in-house GM professionals across two weeks, proving once again that when you bring the best minds together, connections flourish, and real knowledge is shared.
Our first stop was New York on 6 November, hosted brilliantly by the Grant Thornton team and Richard Tonge.
After the icebreaker, the room immediately locked onto the 'Perfect Storm' currently brewing in the US market: Cost constraints, volatile and complex compliance, and soaring business expectations are driving an almost impossible task for US-based GM teams.
The day was packed with crucial insights and practical solutions:
Immigration Insight: Our new sponsors, Greenberg Traurig, provided essential updates, including the current challenges surrounding the H-1B proclamation and proposed changes. Critically, they covered the end of Employment Authorisation Document (EAD) auto-extensions (impacting trailing spouses) and the significant impact of ending Third Country National (TCN) processing for employees entering the US.
Cultural & Tech Focus: RW3 shared fantastic insight into Cultural Adaptation for assignees in a volatile world. Workia gave us a practical look at applying Technology into the GM function, which provided a fun, hands-on understanding of automation and efficiency.
Collaborative Problem Solving: We finished with our lively 'Hot Seat' session, workshopping the issues facing those in the room and providing pragmatic, actionable solutions they could take straight back to their respective companies.
Happy hour: We then rounded off the day with valuable further networking and drinks, cementing the discussions and building those essential peer-to-peer relationships.
After breakfast and introductions, we got stuck into the regional challenges: shifting immigration policies, the spike in the cost of living, and the enduring pressure of cost management. The feedback was engaging, confirming that these challenges, while constant, demand proactive, head-on management—the hallmark of an outstanding GM professional.
Here is a closer look at the key knowledge shared:
Immigration’s Digital Future: Newland Chase discussed the rapidly developing interconnected immigration systems across the APAC region. They highlighted that the increasing digitisation of immigration systems and the implementation of electronic entry cards across APAC and EMEA will lead to tighter surveillance and more enforcement. This signals the definitive end of the "sort it out later" approach. They also gave an update on emerging STEM-based visas, such as the K visa in China and the K star Visa in South Korea, as alternatives to US H-1B restrictions.
Programme Insights: We gained invaluable corporate insight from the teams at Accenture and Chanel, detailing the exciting projects and unique challenges facing their two incredible GM programmes.
Strategy and Talent: AirInc gave a fascinating presentation on how to measure and ensure your Mobility programme is THRIVEing. Vialto then laid out the impending Talent Challenge over the next five years, stressing the need for mobility teams to proactively prepare. We finished with a candid Huddle discussion on Global Mobility’s identity crisis—where it reports and how this shapes its purpose within an organisation.
Community Close: Despite a Singapore downpour, the vibe and energy remained high as we finished the day with networking drinks, leaving members with plenty of encouragement, takeaways, and things to think about.
All in all, another brilliant, laughter-filled two weeks demonstrating the strength of the community. I’d fly 21,000 miles again for that level of genuine connection, learning, and shared expertise.