Drawing on input from 97 multinational companies operating in Brazil, the 12th edition of Mobility Brazil, produced by WERC and Global Line, shows that international transfers are increasingly used to develop leaders, disseminate culture, and retain talent, even as expatriate numbers decline and cost and complexity remain concerns.
Conducted between April and June 2025 with global mobility professionals across industries and company sizes, the study examines how organizations select, prepare, support, and repatriate assignees, and how deliberately these practices are connected to formal talent management objectives. The debate is no longer about whether international transfers matter for talent but about how intentionally companies link them to their broader talent strategy.
The latest edition places particular emphasis on the human side of mobility: whether assignees are recognized and supported in their post-assignment careers, whether international moves actually help them achieve their professional and personal goals, and how effectively companies manage the critical stages of selection, training, monitoring, and return. It ultimately challenges decision-makers to answer a central question: How can global mobility programs be more tightly integrated with talent management so that each assignment generates maximum value for both the individual and the organization?
The Strategic Importance of Global Mobility
International mobility has become a cornerstone of talent management for companies in Brazil. An impressive 80% of respondents believe that international mobility is crucial for their company’s talent management success, with 60% identifying international transfers as a decisive contributor to leadership development.
The retention outcomes support this strategic focus. Among companies surveyed, 70% reported high or very high retention rates for expatriate talent following international assignments. This suggests that the investment in global mobility pays dividends in keeping valuable employees engaged.
Integration Challenges Persist
Despite the recognized value of international mobility, significant integration challenges remain between global mobility and talent management departments. Nearly half of respondents (47%) cited communication failures as the primary obstacle to integrating the talent missions of both units, while 40% pointed to operational limitations stemming from internal organizational structures.
The lack of formal coordination is striking. Only 37% of companies maintain regular communication between these departments, though this interaction tends to be ad hoc rather than part of an operational routine. A mere 20% report a strong interface at all stages of the transfer process.
When the two departments do work together harmoniously, it’s most often during critical transition points: 32% reported collaboration during transfer preparation and another 32% during repatriation. But just 19% collaborated during candidate selection, and 16% coordinated during the monitoring stage.
Selection and Support Systems
How companies select candidates for international assignments reveals a primarily business-driven approach. Business needs analysis leads the way at 59%, followed by technical skills at 38%. Notably, only 17% cited a focus on leadership or career development, and just 17% considered the employee's expressed interest. From this data, it would seem that about 60% of transfer decisions give only secondary consideration to professionals’ career interests.
Once selected, support for transferees varies widely. Nearly half (48%) of companies provide intercultural training, while 40% offer language courses. However, 41% don't offer preparatory support at all, instead selecting candidates already prepared for the assignment. A small minority (4%) only choose candidates with previous expatriate experience.
During assignments, 68% of companies hire dedicated global mobility specialists or HR management analysts to support expatriates. Monitoring typically involves interviews and meetings with expatriates (62%) and regular follow-ups (57%). Surprisingly, 34% rely on an informal survey for transferee monitoring. Other companies (3%) are beginning to experiment with customized artificial intelligence applications.
The Cost Factor
Expatriate assignments represent a significant investment. Nearly half (49%) of companies report that the average cost of a transferred employee is up to 100% higher than that of a local employee in the same role. More than 30% indicate that expatriate costs are nearly double the cost of hiring local employees. This trend has been consistent over time, according to the report.
Despite these higher costs, 86% of companies provide fixed-benefit packages with no room for negotiation. The most common benefits include support with immigration and tax issues, housing rental, annual travel allowances, relocation assistance, and language courses. Increasingly, companies are adding intercultural training and mental health support for spouses and dependents to these packages.
Cultural Integration and Organizational Strategy
Disseminating organizational culture during international assignments occurs primarily through integration with local teams (43%), frequent communication with headquarters (33%), and cultural training before transfer (17%). However, nearly half of companies admit to lacking a structural strategy to achieve this goal.
Intercultural intelligence is a strategic skill as businesses expand their global reach. Current strategies reveal additional opportunities for improvement through pre-transfer training, coaching, and mentoring programs to ensure cultural integration at the transferees’ destination.
The Repatriation Gap
A persistent concern highlighted in the survey is the relocation of expatriates at the end of their international assignments. While 51% say repatriation decisions are made in collaboration with talent management, 34% report that this coordination does not happen. Additionally, most companies wait up to six months before the end of the expatriation period to discuss the transferee’s return. A minority do address the matter a year in advance or at the beginning of the assignment.
The results upon return can be disappointing. Survey findings indicate that some transferred workers’ needs related to position, compensation, location, and career development are not met when they return to their home country.
Looking Forward
The survey’s conclusions emphasize a shift in perspective. While the cost of expatriation has always been a factor, companies now recognize it as a part of overall talent management. As such, companies now need to look more closely at the human factors involved in global mobility assignments. For example, providing transferees with additional cultural/social skills for their destination country can go a long way in creating a smoother transition and greater satisfaction.
The challenge ahead lies in strengthening the integration between global mobility and talent management functions, improving communication, and ensuring that international assignments serve both business needs and employee career development in equal measure.
Operationally, businesses will need to build the framework and structure necessary to support that collaboration to ensure individual career and business success. When mobility and talent management work together from selection to repatriation, organizations can transform costly assignments into powerful engines for leadership development, culture dissemination, and long-term retention.
WERC members can access the Mobility Brazil 2025 report in the WERC Research Library. Want to compare trends year-over-year? Read a summary of the Mobility Brazil 2024 report.