Earlier this week, AIRINC hosted several industry leaders for a mobility innovation roundtable at our Cambridge, MA headquarters. The roundtable kicked off with a “sneak peak” of results from AIRINC’s latest 2020 Mobility Outlook Survey. Throughout the day attendees discussed current program challenges and the future state of mobility with their peers.
Driving down the four-lane highway from Bangalore’s airport to the city centre, our progress slowed. The road ahead narrowed to two lanes due to bridges that the government has found prohibitively expensive to wide. Arriving after a full day of travel, my trip suddenly became that much longer as we trudged through traffic on the way to my hotel. I could see why assignees desire to live near their offices.
Rents are stabilizing in Dublin following a long period of inflation. Vacancy rates are still very low, and it can be difficult to find a one- to two-bedroom apartment in the city. There are a number of new developments, but progress is slow. Some companies buy blocks of buildings to renovate for employees, which decreases overall rental stock.
Join AIRINC and your global mobility peers for a breakfast briefing discussion on the recent results from our Long-Term Assignment Benchmark Study. From this session, you will learn more about policy best practice from 185 global companies who participated in the survey.
The Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai, referred to by many as BKC, has continued to develop and is fast becoming the new business and residential heart of Mumbai. Originally intended to serve as an alternate business district to help decongest south Mumbai, commercial office stock has increased at phenomenal rates in the past five years. BKC now houses India’s Stock Exchange and the Indian headquarters of many large multinational companies.
Data Points brings you the latest updates from our Housing, Goods & Services, and Tax departments. These highlights are based on our expert international surveys, which are conducted on location by our global data collection team.
In 2019, we witnessed continued global change and the influence of political uncertainty on our industry. Global Mobility programs have had to adapt and adjust to meet changing laws that have impacted expatriate pay packages, and we expect 2020 will bring more change.
Our colleagues in Europe were busy this autumn with a successful series of events in London, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Munich, and Berlin. Depending on the location, we presented the results of AIRINC’s Long-Term Assignment Benchmark, going over some of the details and trends from the survey results; we discussed the shifts we are observing towards a more flexible workforce; and we explored an alternative approach to assignment housing and how to manage both costs and expectations.
On my most recent trip, I visited Baku, Azerbaijan. The political and economic heart of this oil-wealthy nation, Baku had seen a large exodus of expatriates starting in 2014 due to falling oil prices. These departures and an overall weak economy brought rents down significantly. Over the last two years, rents have started to recover, and the sources I met with indicated moderate price increases in certain areas. While oil prices have rebounded slightly, the primary driver of rising rents is a decrease in the supply of long-term rentals. ]
AIRINC in Europe are looking forward to one of the first global mobility events of the year with Expat Academy on 9 January 2020. Carl McClean and Jo Wakeham will be attending the Club100 huddle in London to discuss all the current trends and hot topics, and to provide advice on all the issues of the day.