This summer, we decided to delve into the good, the bad, and the can-be-improved-upons by way of an informal survey. Almost half of our freelance members responded, offering an excellent snapshot into life as a freelance field agent.

The aim: to see where we as an association, and our members as employers, can help create a better experience not just for the freelancer, but for the expat client too.

Life as a Freelance Field Consultant

The lion’s share of you have been freelancing for at least 8 years, with eight out of ten doing so on a full-time basis. Most of you (57.1%) have between 2 and 5 relocation agencies as regular clients, with 35.7% working for just one or two client companies. Only one of you works for more than five client companies at present.

You enjoy the freedom and flexibility of freelance life (73.3%) and discovering different company cultures (26.7%). However, 13.3% would have liked to work for a particular relocation company but were unable to find a FT/PT position. You also report that field work tends to be on a freelance basis anyway. Overall, you enjoy working as a freelancer (71.4%) though you admit there’s room for improvement (28.6%).

How Business is Going

How many assignments you handle per year varies greatly as files range from smaller tasks such as basic move-in-move-out support to the full range of relocation services. With respondents declaring everything from 15 to 100 assignments per year, business is vastly different for each consultant.

The one thing you all agree on is that business is not booming. Where 23.1% of you report the workload is more or less the same as in previous years, the rest of you are concerned about the lack of business. From less transferees requesting relocation services to less extensive support packages for expats, there is less money to be made overall. Compounded by the housing shortage, assignments are taking more of your time whilst fees do not adequately reflect the cost of providing your services.

A Solid Growth Industry

Does this mean all is lost and it’s time to start exploring other fields of business if you want to make a solid living? Not at all: recent industry research indicates that the global corporate relocation service market is valued at some US $20.22 bn in 2025 and expected to reach US $32.47 bn over the next seven years. Note that the marketing agency did not survey all industry players, which means the actual economic value of the relocation service industry is many times higher.

Europe is the second largest market for corporate relocations, accounting for over 25.2% of global market share in 2025. Belgium may well have dropped four places in IMD’s annual World Talent Ranking, we still hold a very respectable 16^th position globally. This means relocation services will continue to be needed, even if our government does need to start making more of an effort if we want to remain competitive in the global war for talent.

Part of the Team

Although you, as field agents, are the face of the relocation company, less than half of you (40%) feel sufficiently valued by your client companies. There is much room for improvement especially when it comes to inclusion, with just over one in four (26.7%) of you feeling like a real part of the team. The rest of you feel like an outsider, some, or all of the time.

As freelancers, you often work for relocators without being introduced to the rest of the team or even knowing who does what in the office. A staggering 80% of you don’t receive regular training from your client companies. And when you do, it often focuses on things like new IT-tools, rather than practical information such as navigating town hall registration processes.

Company Training

Although 66.7% of you do receive (some) training via your client companies, you all agree that more training is welcome. Everything from immigration updates to the latest in rental law, best practices, and other practical advice is gratefully received. However, as training and travel time are not reimbursed, you have a strong preference for online trainings.

Additionally, you are interested in finding out how you can improve your own business as a freelancer. How to get started in relocation, how to gain more clients, insights into conflict resolution, and so on. When it comes to training, you see a proactive role for ABRA as well as for relocation companies.

What’s Going Right

Although it depends on the company, you all value the quality of the briefings you receive, their transparent communication style, and any client feedback they share with you. Similarly, the trainings you do receive are much appreciated. Above all, you are grateful when they have your back in case of problematic files or difficult clients.

With some files taking months to complete due to processing delays, and with invoices only being paid the next calendar month, timely payments are a key concern. A certain level of flexibility by the relocation company would be much appreciated, especially considering it’s difficult to charge late payment fees. Thankfully, most of you report that invoices are paid correctly and on time.

What Could Be Better

The biggest bugbears for freelancers are time and money. From time consuming meetings to unscheduled lunches with assignees, field agency comes with a financial burden that cannot always be passed on to the relocation agency you are working for.

Suggestions range from asking end clients to increase their budget to introducing packages that bundle services together at a reasonable price. You’d also appreciate being given a certain level of autonomy, especially the more experienced of you. Overall, you don’t always feel sufficiently appreciated or remunerated. Though again, it depends on the company.

ABRA’s First Freelancer Event

This has been an exceptionally interesting exercise for ABRA: although many of our member meetings address topics that (we feel) should interest all our members, we recognise that attending our events doesn’t always align with freelancers’ concerns about unpaid travel time to locations around the country.

That said, all respondents expressed an interest in getting to know other freelancers and having the opportunity to discuss common concerns. And so, we’re looking forward to organising our very first dedicated freelancer event towards the end of the year.

We’re currently exploring venues and finetuning format, but are aiming for October/November 2025, so if you’re an ABRA Freelance Member, be sure to keep an eye on your inbox!

Not an ABRA member yet? Discover the benefits of membership….

 

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This year, NetExpat and EY returned to update their findings. Sam Pinney, Director Benelux/ APAC Client services & Global Advisory for NetExpat said:

“Originally launched in 2018 by NetExpat, in partnership with EY, the Relocating Partner Survey is the most comprehensive benchmark survey ever conducted related to the spouses and partners of transferees. The 2023 survey leveraged the historical data from the last 5 years, along with new feedback from corporate HR representatives, mobile employees and their partners to showcase perspectives from these three different viewpoints.”

For the 2023 report, the team added in more topics to reflect the changing priorities within the industry. Specifically:

• The effect of hybrid and cross-border remote work
• Family Experience
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I)

Looking Beyond the Employee

As with the 2018 survey, this new work provides new insight into the priorities and needs of employees and their families.

Crucially, employees and their partners feel that employers have listened and begun to prioritise the Family Experience. This has seen corporate programmes begin to reflect the needs of families more accurately. As the report highlights “the well-being of the family is a key component of the services companies should consider offering in an international relocation package”.

We can see the success of these new look programmes in the survey results. Looking at partner support, for example, only 31% of employees felt that employers were doing enough in 2018. This has jumped to 55% in 2023.

Additionally, offering support beyond the employee enhances the DE&I agenda of the employer.

Changing Attitudes

Increasingly relocating employees are coming from Generations Y and Z, which is seeing a shift in priorities for partners.

Specifically, when we look at the importance of second incomes, younger generations find two incomes to be more important than previous generations. We see this in the survey results with second income being important to 69% in 2018, rising to 74% in 2023.

This new breed of mobile talent is also expecting more from their prospective employer. Especially when it comes to supporting their partner and family. Whilst corporations are evolving their programmes to offer more services to the family, there is still work to be done to meet the expectations of new, relocating employees.

The Importance of Family

It is crucial that employers who are seeking the best international talent keep these changes in mind. When we look at the most common reasons for assignment rejection, 3 of the top 6 relate directly to family. By not creating a programme which proactively supports the partners and family as a whole, key talent can be lost.

Beyond the initial acceptance, when common reasons for failed assignments are reviewed, family is a key factor here too. In fact, 74% of respondents listed their partner not being happy as a factor in the failure and 38% included issues with their children.

How to Improve the Family Experience

We are already seeing a shift in the approach of employers. The focus is moving from “cash” to “care”.

Where ten years ago 61% of businesses would use a cash allowance to attract partners, this has now dropped to 36%. In its place, we’re seeing an increase in direct support to the partner, with 69% of employers offering this and 51% offering integration support for non-working partners.

Additionally, the pre-decision consultation is an emerging practice which shows great promise. These can be used to reassure the employee and their family before they make the decision to become mobile. Whether handled by internal HR assets or external providers, these are a great opportunity to proactively address common assignment rejection issues.

Corporations are increasingly offering support through a peer-to-peer system. This sees a person with whom the family/partner identifies offering support to the family. This is an extremely effective and cost-efficient way to provide tangible support to the partner and family. This also provides a framework for monitoring and proactively addressing the common reasons for failed assignments before they become critical.

All of this leads to a stronger framework for talent retention, which is the best outcome for all involved.

Our thanks to NetExpat, especially Sam Pinney, for the agreement and support for us to produce this brief for our ABRA members. If you would like to look deeper into their results, you can download your own copy of the report here.

 

 

 

 

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In many organisations, all three are considered Mobility’s customers. Identifying key customers and their priorities is a vital step to achieving lasting, positive outcomes. Responses to the question on how mobility defines success, we can see that 87% of companies prioritise business satisfaction. These answers indicate that the business is Mobility’s primary customer. However, when asked how often Mobility engages the business when considering policy changes, most participants responded with “sometimes” or “often” rather than “always”. Engaging the business to learn what they value helps Mobility make good decisions about resources and approaches.

Most participants noted that the primary purpose of moving talent around the organisation is to fill skill or knowledge gaps. Additionally, customer requirements are increasingly diversified. Successful mobility functions are those that can engage with customers to understand their wider needs and offer solutions that allow the business to make good decisions in these areas. Ultimately, good decisions are the result of exploring customer needs and collaborating with customers and external partners to implement solutions that reflect the purpose of mobility within the organisation.

What do you consider to be the most important outcome of a cross-border assignment?
■ to fill staffing needs in locations where skills or knowledge are not available = 4.1
■ to provide strategic business direction = 3.3
■ to provide professional development and global skills for assignees = 2.9
■ to provide training/development for staff in host offices = 2.2
■ to spread organisational values and culture = 1.7

(5 = extremely important, 4 = very important, 3 = moderately important, 2 = slightly important, 1 = not important)

Ensuring effective governance: for some mobility functions, governance is solely about compliance. For a growing number of mobility leaders, it is about balancing oversight and flexibility.

Most participants indicate that multiple stakeholders must approve an international assignment before it moves forward. The host business is typically responsible for absorbing mobility costs and is noted as an approver in 77% of organisations. In contrast, Mobility, which creates and administers the policies, is an approver in just a third of organisations. This approval structure generates a requirement for mobility to respond to the diverse needs of the business and explains the continuing trend of Mobility offering flexible package options for the business. Forty percent of participants meet that requirement by differentiating policies by length and purpose, while 32% (up from 26% last year) offer flexibility via negotiation.

In companies offering assignment flexibility, mobility tends to play an advisory role with 39% of organisations indicating mobility recommends assignment and transfer packages for the business’ consideration. In 14% of organisations, mobility is responsible for defining assignment benefits and support and only 9% allow the business to structure packages without mobility’s input. Expanded possibilities for personalised packages and business choice require a strong and supportive governance framework. Successful mobility programs reinforce the mobility decision-making process with clear governance oversight.

How would you best describe global mobility’s approach to providing flexibility to the business?
■ 40% – multiple policies differentiated by length but also purpose, e.g. standard or developmental policies.
■ 32% – flexibility is provided by individual negotiation and exceptions.
■ 32% – all assignees go on the same assignment length with little flexiblity.
■ 26% – policy offers ‘core’ benefits for all employees, with option to add or adjust ‘flexible’ benefits.
■ 26% – policies outline benefits by job level or other criteria.

Communicating creatively: forty-four percent of companies see an opportunity to improve the way Mobility communicates with employees while 48% are prioritising better communication with the business.

With increasing policy options and governance models that encourage the business to make package decisions, Mobility has begun focussing on communications to provide guidance and distribute important information to the business as well as employees. Both audiences are important customers and connecting with them in a targeted way helps mobility in the short and long term. Eighty-six percent of companies are making efforts to improve employee experience and dynamic, one-to-many communications like videos, portals, and training modules engage employees while reducing administration. These resources can, for example, help the 17% of participants that provide cash lump sums explain the intent of such payments to encourage more thoughtful spending. Communicating with the business has historically been done on a case-by-case basis, but new resources, such as mobility decision guides, help the business create compliant packages or select policies that balance assignment investment and purpose.

Please indicate if your company offers flexible choice to the employee in any of the following ways:
■ 36% – provide a cash allowance in lieu of individual benefits.
■ 17% – offer a cash lump sum for multiple benefits.
■ 16% – offer choice between a cash allowance or in-kind benefits.
■ 6% – offer flexible spending budget or flex points approach.
■ 49% – none of the above.

Policy Trends

Most participants report that the demand for mobility is stable or growing. There are noted changes to the types of assignments and transfers being used today. Compared with last year, 13% more companies now have an international one-way transfer policy (72% vs 59% in 2018). In addition to increased interest in one-way transfers, multiple organisations reported their intentions to add a commuter policy to their mobility program. The growing use of commuter arrangements reinforces the trend of companies supporting more flexible work arrangements.

Looking Ahead

The most significant change in Mobility today is how the function works and communicates with customers. Participants reported ongoing and planned initiatives to improve Mobility’s visibility and engagement with customers, and many are leveraging technology and vendors to make that happen. Mobility is also increasingly focused on providing the business accurate cost estimates and planning support.

In addition to these operational and communication enhancements, there is a continued expansion of Mobility’s remit with many assuming responsibility for business travellers, commuters, locally hired non-nationals, and domestic relocations. The consolidation of all things mobility is increasing market demand for integrated and agile technology solutions that streamline workflow, cost planning, communication, and tracking. The Mobility function of tomorrow will be more connected, resourceful,
and impactful than ever before.

For the full report, visit the AIRINC website: www.air-inc.com/library/2019-mobility-outlook-survey/

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“While most Western European cities have remained stable in this year’s rankings, UK cities have fallen,” said Kate Fitzpatrick, a Senior International Mobility Consultant at Mercer.  “However the drop is not as large as to be expected, with steep rental prices keeping UK cities up.  In the past year we’ve observed strong rental accommodation prices increase in Aberdeen, and to a lesser extent in Belfast. Although there has been only a slight increase in the average rental price in London, this cost remains at the higher end of the scale when compared to cities worldwide.”

“Although the value of the Euro has remained steady against the US dollar, the Pound has fallen, largely due to Brexit fears,” explains Ellyn Karetnick, Head of International Mobility at Mercer.  “But whilst currency fluctuations will always cause a major impact on costs, local conditions like high property prices can counterbalance the impact of currency movements.  It is important to understand local costs when deploying employees in countries across the world and we use the Mercer International basket of goods to help calculate rankings and packages.”

Few organisations are prepared for the challenges world events have on their business, including the impact on cost of expatriate packages.  This year’s survey again proves that factors including currency fluctuations, cost inflation for goods and services, and instability of accommodation prices contribute to the cost of expatriate packages for employees on international assignments.

Mercer’s survey takes into account 375 cities throughout the world; this year’s ranking includes 209 cities across five continents and measures the comparative cost of more than 200 items in each location, including housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods, and entertainment.

According to the 2016 survey, Hong Kong tops the list of most expensive cities for expats, pushing Luanda, Angola to second position.  Zurich and Singapore remain in third and fourth positions, respectively, whereas Tokyo comes in fifth, up six place from lst year.  Other cities appearing in the top 10 of costliest cities for expatriates are Shanghai (7), Geneva (8), N’Djamena (9) and Beijing.  The world’s least expensive cities are Windhoek (209), Cape Town (208) and Bishkek (207).

Nathalie Constantin-Métral, Principal at Mercer with responsibility for compiling the survey ranking, said, “Despite some marked price increases across the region, several local currencies in Europe have weakened against the US dollar which pushed a few cities down in the ranking. Additionally, other factors like recent security issues, social unrest, and concern about the economic outlook have impacted the region.”

“Cost of living allowances are intended to help protect the purchasing power of international assignees, and can go up or down depending on inflation levels in the home and host location, and the movement of exchange rates.”

Two European cities are among the top 10 list of most expensive cities.  At number three in the global ranking, Zurich remains the most costly European city, followed by Geneva (8), down three spots from last year.  The next European city in the ranking, Bern (13) is down four places from last year following the weakening of the Swiss franc against the US dollar.   Several cities across Europe remained relatively steady due to the stability of the Euro against the Dollar.  Paris (44), Milan (50), Vienna (54), and Rome (58) are relatively unchanged compared to last year, while Copenhagen (24) and St. Petersburg (152) stayed in the same place.

Brussels meanwhile has climbed the rankings quite significantly, coming up 16 places (from 102 to 86) this year.  Nathalie Constantin-Metrál believes the rise in utility costs in Belgium has a large part to play in this as goods and services  in general increased only slightly.

When we enquired about the expected impact of the impending Brexit Kate Fitzpatrick said “Cost of living allowances are intended to help protect the purchasing power of international assignees, and can go up or down depending on inflation levels in the home and host location, and the movement of exchange rates. Generally speaking, the requirement for any sort of cost of living adjustment increases for assignees from a location with a devalued currency (e.g. UK outbound assignees), while the reverse is true for assignees into such a location (e.g. UK inbounds), as the home country currency now goes further and therefore requires less of an adjustment to maintain purchasing power in the host location than in the past.

That said, organizations take many different approaches to the exchanges rates used to calculate such allowances, the frequency with which they review them, and the thresholds at which they would make any off-cycle interventions, so there will be a range of ways for companies to manage this over the coming weeks and months. It is also important to remember that currency movements – even moderately significant ones – are not uncommon, and many multinational companies will have defined mechanisms for dealing with such volatility.”

Mercer produces individual cost of living and rental accommodation cost reports for each city surveyed. To purchase copies of individual city reports, visit:
www.imercer.com/products/cost-of-living.aspx

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