Global mobility in 2025 might best be summed up in two words: in flux.

Every post-election year brings some change, and this one is no different. HR mobility leaders are grappling with managing relocation budgets and forecasting global trends amidst an evolving economic landscape of tariffs, a mixed bag of return-to-work policies, and complex social and political environments.

Navigating what often feels like a guessing game is especially challenging if going it alone. An experienced, trusted relocation management company helps take the guesswork out of relocation management and ensure that – despite uncertainties – relocation is cost-effectively placing talent where needed most.

Tackling Relocation’s Three Most Common Challenges

Whether our clients are managing domestic moves or international relocations, their primary concerns generally fall into three categories: controlling costs, offering competitive benefits, and taking care of their transferees. Here are some ways an RMC like CapRelo addresses each of those challenges.

Costs

It is safe to say that virtually every HR mobility leader has lost a little sleep over this one. How do I move this person, or this group of people, while being sensitive to costs?

If you are working with an RMC like CapRelo, you are at a distinct advantage in answering that question.

We start by running the organization’s historical relocation information, taking the annual expenses and drilling down to uncover the average cost by move type, policy type and even moving lanes. For instance, what is the average cost to relocate an employee from Dallas to Boston, compared to from San Francisco to Phoenix?

What variations can we spot by studying transferee demographics — renter versus homeowner, single or moving with family, job level, etc.? By evaluating our rich data, we can identify trends that represent opportunities.

Depending on the data, for example, we might recommend reducing temporary living benefits from 60 days to 30 days, thereby cutting that line-item expense by 50%. We might recommend reducing the number of days the client pays for destination services from two days to one. And since we have access to market benchmarks, we can confidently suggest changes that are still competitive in the market while saving the client dollars.

Best of all, CapRelo crunches the numbers using readily available data – with no internal client resources needed. To run this level of detailed analysis internally would be a time-consuming undertaking by the finance, payroll and other departments.

Relocation Benefits

We hear this question quite often: How do I remove certain services to help reduce the overall expense, or reshape our current benefits offering, while still recruiting  and retaining talent?

At CapRelo, we look at each individual component within the benefit package, from household goods shipping to housing, cultural and language training, cost-of-living adjustments and more. We then benchmark against others. Our goal is to make small tweaks that aren’t impactful to the employee, but are beneficial to the organization.

Here’s a recent example from one of my clients. Instead of offering its current benefit of two home-finding trips, we recommended offering a single trip for the same number of days. That one change cut their airfare cost in half, with zero lost home-finding time for the employee.

Look at your own program. Can you reduce destination services for two days to one? Perhaps your policy could encourage shipping one vehicle and driving another, rather than paying to ship both. How can you best use core-flex to control costs?

The key is to find those things that save your organization relocation expenses, while still remaining competitive in the talent marketplace.

Supporting Transferees

In the end, the true test of any relocation program is in the success of the employees involved. The faster you can get them settled in, comfortable and happily productive, the faster the organization will begin to realize ROI.

The challenge is in ensuring that employees have the information they want and need. Again, that’s where an RMC fills an invaluable role. It would take an internal team significant time and resources to uncover the destination intel that CapRelo has readily accessible on locations across the globe. Need information on schools and real estate in Raleigh or Dubai? Check. What is the cost-of-living differential between Houston and London? Check. Can I get input on schools and clubs for my children in Toronto? We have it.

CapRelo draws not only on its 25 years of doing relocations for companies around the world. We also lean into the knowledge bank of thousands of carefully vetted suppliers across 160 countries to give our transferees boots-on-the-ground information and support.

When supporting international assignments, HR leaders also need to ensure compliance with cross-border labor laws. Posted worker regulations can be complex and differ significantly by country, posing risk to both company and employee if overlooked. Learn how to stay ahead of these obligations in our Partner Perspectives: Walking the Tightrope of Posted Worker Compliance.

Let CapRelo Help

When it comes to balancing relocation expenses and benefits while supporting transferees, information is power. Put CapRelo’s decades of relocation management experience and deep data intelligence to work to solve your most pressing relocation challenges this year. We provide you with the peace of mind of having the best people in the right place at the right time with the right skills.