WERC APAC 25 brought together the region’s brightest minds in global mobility to exchange insights, tackle shared challenges, and spark new thinking about how mobility programs can evolve amid economic and regulatory change. From evolving transferee expectations to sweeping changes in economic and geopolitical dynamics, the two-day conference in Singapore offered a deep dive into the trends shaping talent mobility across Asia and beyond.
Synergy Global Housing, a serviced accommodation program manager, was on the ground and shares its key takeaways from the event—offering a partner’s perspective on the opportunities, headwinds, and innovations that will define the future of mobility in APAC.
Opportunities Are Plentiful, but Headwinds Remain
Throughout the event, the general message remained optimistic, with countries like India and the U.S. remaining robust mobility markets as highlighted in the session “C-Suite Insights on Global Mobility.”
Despite this, President Trump’s tariffs dominated the conversation throughout, with tariff-induced geopolitical uncertainty expected to persist. Speakers and panelists during the session highlighted the shift from China Plus One to China Plus Many as the country seeks to reduce overreliance on the U.S. market.
Global economic forecasts appeared to trend downward across key economies like China, the U.S., and the EU, with shifts in mobility policies appearing to prevail as mobility managers seek to adapt to economic uncertainty, as highlighted in the session “Economic Outlook: Navigating Opportunities and Challenges in The APAC Region.”
The Future of ASEAN Is Bright
For the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the session “Economic Outlook: Navigating Opportunities and Challenges in The APAC Region” focused on the industries expected to grow, which included wealth management, green economy, renewable energy, and health care, despite U.S. scrutiny on China proxies. The session also highlighted that ASEAN is an attractive alternative to China for manufacturing and exports, suggesting an opportunity for these markets.
Reflecting this sentiment, speakers in the panel “Temporary Housing Industry Update APAC” discussed the expansion of corporate housing in tier two and tier three cities.
A Shining Light on Corporate Housing
The “Temporary Housing Industry Update APAC” session also provoked an insightful discussion around trends across APAC, highlighting a 10% increase in demand in some regions such as India, Australia, and Malaysia. Tokyo and Shanghai saw rising rates, while Kuala Lumpur and Melbourne faced limited availability.
The discussion also highlighted the growth in the co-living segment, while also noting the impact staffing shortages in key temporary housing markets like Singapore had on guest experience. Pet-friendly policies were highlighted as evolving, with more properties catering to the unique requirements of long-stay guests.
The use of key cards and smart locks across tech hubs like China are increasing, with facial recognition and fingerprints growing in popularity. The panel additionally spoke about the rebirth of white-glove services, highlighting the importance of customization in policy to meet client needs.
AI Highlights a Significant Opportunity for Mobility
This insightful and thought-provoking session, “Artificial Intelligence and Digitization in The Talent Mobility Industry,” focused on the evolution and future of AI in mobility programs. Speakers highlighted the potential of AI to automate administrative tasks, improve quality, and personalize services, with 52% of organizations already deploying AI agents. By 2027, it was expected that every application will have AI embedded, shifting the focus from human-in-charge to human-in-the-loop.
Despite the growing popularity of AI, speakers discussed pressing challenges, including data security, the importance of accurate and clean data in avoiding bias, and ensuring experiences are streamlined. They also discussed the importance of transparency, accountability, and human interaction as we continue to learn as an industry.
Until Next Time
WERC APAC 25 provided its attendees with a comprehensive overview of the APAC industry, its challenges and opportunities, and the trends to watch out for as we look ahead. It was an incredibly insightful conference full of big-picture topics designed to support industry stakeholders to thrive as we navigate a continuously evolving and uncertain landscape. A huge thank you to everyone at WERC who brought these fruitful and incredibly important conversations to life.