The talent mobility industry arrived in Salt Lake City this year facing familiar pressures—economic uncertainty, rising costs, shifting immigration rules, geopolitical volatility—but left with a shared message from WERC leadership and industry experts: Disruption is creating as much opportunity as it is challenge.
With nearly 1,400 attendees, more than 400 first-timers, over 100 CEOs and presidents, 34 countries represented, and more than 95% flying in, WERC Global 25 underscored the scale and momentum behind the community. Across the Opening and Closing General Sessions, leaders drew a clear picture of where the industry stands today—and where mobility teams must focus to be ready for 2026 and beyond.
A Sobering Picture—And a Call to Reframe It
Opening the conference, WERC President and CEO Anupam Singhal delivered a candid assessment of the macro environment impacting talent mobility. From VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) conditions and workforce shortages to declining mobility rates, the context is undeniably complex.
U.S. labor force participation rates have fallen from 67.1% in 2001 to 62.5% in 2024, even as the overall civilian labor force grew during the same period from 142 million to 168 million. Moves for job-related reasons within the United States have also steadily declined—from 7.4 million in 2014 to 5.4 million in 2023. And corporate relocations and mobility programs handled by relocation management companies (RMCs), as reported in a 2024 WERC survey, totaled roughly 289,000, a figure that comprised less than a quarter of the 1.2 million non-county head of household moves for a new job or job transfer in the United States. “That is a very sobering picture,” Singhal said. But he made the conference theme clear: “What looks scary represents enormous opportunity all the way around. Your framing of that data and what you do with that context determines where you and we go from here.”
That spirit—pragmatic but optimistic—carried into the Leadership Panel that followed.
Mobility’s Strategic Value Is Rising
Panelists agreed that while the volume of traditional relocations may be tighter, the strategic importance of mobility has grown.
Jason Munoz, director of talent acquisition at Entergy, emphasized that mobility teams are uniquely positioned to shift internal conversations toward a total talent mindset. “We have the voice to change the conversation to a total talent objective where mobility is a strategic lever for the organization,” he said. That value comes with metrics: “You can put dollar values behind that. You can show the cost of a job being empty.”
Panelists also stressed that global companies will continue moving people wherever opportunity arises—despite political and economic headwinds. “The fact remains that large global orgs are still going to continue to have the need to deploy talent around their businesses to match where the opportunities are,” said Gerard Osei-Bonsu of EY in the Closing General Session.
Efficiency, Scale, and Standardization Are Now Imperatives
As budgets stay tight and expectations continue to rise, mobility teams are being asked to do more with less—and service providers are responding by redesigning operations, technology models, and delivery structures.
James Conigliaro, president and CEO of Dwellworks, described the complexity created by thousands of unique client variations in destination services. “We manage over 6,000 different SKUs of variability,” he said. The company spent two years reducing unnecessary differences, creating room to automate a significant portion of its manual processes, increasing caseload, and freeing up capacity to focus even more on the customer experience.
Clients are also demanding a stronger return on investment from technology investments. Tyler Reynolds, CEO of Equus, emphasized that organizations increasingly expect tools that help them do more with fewer resources—and that many are now looking for a clear business case not just for new technology, but for global mobility itself.
Carlyn Taylor, CEO of Sirva, noted the need for a more interconnected ecosystem, saying, “Coming from outside the industry, it’s super complicated and not interconnected enough. We’re working on a data lake with Microsoft. We need to make it a seamless process. We have 1,900 suppliers. That’s a little nuts.”
Her broader point—that the prize goes to the operators willing to modernize—echoed across both general sessions.
The AI Moment Has Arrived
One of the main themes at WERC Global was the industry’s rapid shift from talking about AI hypothetically to adopting it practically.
Organizations are investing heavily in automation, analytics, and AI-enabled assistance. “AI, technology, and data are being embraced by our company. We are making huge annual investments in AI,” said Karen Welch, senior vice president of global mobility at Publicis Group.
Gerard Osei-Bonsu called AI “a once-in-a-generation opportunity,” noting that companies want readiness strategies as much as tools. “The companies that embrace this and are prepared to iterate and pilot and try things will ultimately be the winners.”
For providers, AI isn’t just transforming client-facing tools—it’s streamlining compliance, documentation, case management, and back-office workflows. For mobility teams, it’s shifting the balance from operations to strategy. Deloitte’s Patti Wilkie emphasized that as more operational work becomes automated, mobility functions will have greater capacity to focus on higher-value strategic priorities.
With that shift comes a new mandate: data quality. Wilkie underscored that meaningful AI-driven change depends on the strength, clarity, and consistency of an organization’s underlying data.
Compliance and Duty of Care Continue to Dominate the Agenda
Current geopolitical and regulatory conditions created a steady undercurrent of caution throughout the week. Panelists highlighted heightened immigration restrictions in the U.S. and U.K., evolving workforce rules, and a need for deeper crisis preparedness.
“We’re 30 minutes into a two-hour movie,” said Fragomen Co-Chair Enrique González III, referring to the shifting global immigration environment. His advice: “Make sure you have a Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C. Flexibility and agility. You need them in your playbook. Compliance. This is the name of the game.”
The message resonated: Mobility functions must be ready to respond to geopolitical shocks, emerging regulations, and new expectations for employee duty of care.
Data, Insight, and Internal Influence Will Define 2026
Speakers consistently emphasized that mobility teams must elevate their internal influence—grounding their expertise in business acumen and forward-looking workforce insights.
“You need to understand the data,” Welch said. She emphasized the importance of demonstrating how mobility solves business problems, adding, “Offer to be a part of the solution; that’s how you get a seat at the table.”
Osei-Bonsu echoed this mindset: “Mobility should act as the quarterback to bring stakeholders together.”
And González distilled the closing message: “Talk to your clients. Listen to them and what their needs are. Once you pick a plan, you can pivot, but you need a clear vision of your destination.”
A Path Forward: Limitless Possibilities in a Transforming Landscape
Across both general sessions, the message to mobility professionals was clear and consistent: The environment is tough. The data is sobering. But the opportunity is immense.
Whether through stronger data capabilities, smarter technology adoption, tighter compliance, or becoming a more strategic force in workforce planning, mobility teams have a rare opportunity to redefine their impact.
As Singhal reminded attendees in the Opening General Session: “I believe the opportunities are limitless.”
And throughout WERC Global 25, it was evident that the industry is already leaning into that future.