For years, the household goods move has been one of the sacred cows of corporate relocation. You want someone to move? You put their things on a truck. End of discussion.
But the past five years have quietly changed the economics.
For years, Global Mobility had a pretty good deal: run clean programs, keep transferees from spiraling, make sure the mover shows up, and everyone assumes the machinery behind the scenes is fine. “Service first” was the whole mantra.
Let’s begin with generosity: companies aren’t doing this for the wrong reasons. Most bonuses come from a desire to support employees and move quickly.
Sticker shock is rewriting relocation practices faster than thoughtfully considered planning ever did.
Relocation has long been treated as an expense line — a necessary cost to move talent where it’s needed. But when measured properly, relocation produces returns that Finance can quantify and executives can respect.
Credibility alone doesn’t move budgets or policy. To earn real influence, mobility needs to translate credible data into executive currency.
The intent is noble. Mobility wants a seat at the table. But the math often leans on variables we don’t control – performance scores, market share, or innovation pipelines we’ll never have sightlines into.
Every relocation tells two stories: one about getting talent where it’s needed, and another about what it costs the planet to make that happen.
At a recent conference, I attended a session on Measuring ROI in Global Mobility. The title promised substance. Instead, I got a parade of phrases built to impress an executive’s ear: revenue risk, million-dollar launches, speed to market.
For years now, it’s been getting harder to convince employees to take U.S. assignments. The reasons aren’t just cost or logistics; they’re deeper and more human.
