"Alternative" international assignment (AIA) policies and practices survey

Short-term assignments

• Trends and demographics
• Short-term assignment policy framework
• Compensation approach and tax support
• Cost of living/daily living costs
• Housing and utilities
• Mobility and hardship premiums
• Education and childcare
• Transportation
• Travel and home leave
• Relocation assistance and additional support
• Benefits coverage

Permanent moves/one-way transfers and internationally hired foreigners

• Trends and management
• Compensation approaches
• "Plus" allowances, benefits in kind and relocation support — eligibility, delivery, tax and recurrence
• Benefits

Short-term assignments report (2026 edtion)

• Short-term assignments (STA) remain a core mobility tool: 38% reported an increase and 43% stability in the number of STAs during 2024-2025. The outlook for 2026-2027 is even stronger, with 48% expecting volumes to increase, 45% expecting stability, and only 7% anticipating a decline.
• Cost containment remains the leading challenge in managing STAs, followed closely by managing exceptions, career planning and retention post assignment, tracking informal arrangements and tax compliance.
• Many organizations believe STAs have positive effects on employee outcomes, but relatively few can demonstrate this objectively. Over half believe STA alumni benefit from accelerated skill development and career progression, nearly half believe engagement is higher, and 40% believe retention is stronger. However, most cannot support these views with data.
• Close to 60% of organizations do not allow accompanied assignments under policy, a small increase from last edition.

Permanent moves/one-way transfers report (2025 edition)

• Among the two-thirds or organizations who have a formal policy for internationally hired foreigners, almost two-thirds apply the same policy as for one-way transfers.
• Most participants apply the same approach or policy to one-way transfers and internationally hired foreigners even though internationally hired foreigners are more often managed by HR rather than the global mobility team, reverse from the one-way transfers.
• Close to one-third – a six-percentage-point increase from the last edition – have one global policy/practice for internationally hired foreigners, consistently applied to all locations
• The main reason for employers to relocate employees internationally permanently remains providing career opportunities for employees. Employee value proposition (EVP)/talent attraction and retention keeps the second rank.
• Nearly 60% of survey respondents indicate that they provide the same allowances/benefits to internationally hired foreigners as to one-way transfers and two-thirds, the same relocation support items.

Commuter assignments report (2021 edition)

• Close to 70% of companies track the number of days commuters spend outside their home countries, a noticeable increase from the 56% in the previous edition.
• Fifty-seven percent of companies, a 22-percentage-point increase from the 2018 edition, have a formal commuting policy.
• Global mobility is more involved in commuter management than in the previous edition (61% in 2020-2021 versus 55% in 2018). Likewise, a higher proportion of respondents in this edition (34% versus 19% in 2018) indicate that global mobility is the function qualified to offer the commuter policy or practice rather than other actors, such as home-country HR or business unit.

• The 2025 update of Permanent Moves/One-Way Transfers and Internationally Hired Foreigners Questionnaire is also open to new participants.
• You can complete the surveys online at your own pace. The interactive questionnaires will chart your progress, allowing you to take a break at any point and resume at your convenience.