In recent months, several major oil companies expanded their offshore drilling operations in Guyana to include neighboring Suriname. The entry into Suriname was facilitated by the country’s shifting political climate and the economic vulnerability triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. With the sudden arrival of expatriates into the capital, Paramaribo, the housing market is already experiencing considerable strain.
Since March of 2020, more than 450,000 Australian citizens and permanent residents returned home on the advice of the Australian Federal Government. International travel was becoming increasingly complex and many countries established travel restrictions or closed borders.
About a year ago, we reported over a third of companies we surveyed were considering implementing some type of core/flex mobility policy. Since then, Global Mobility professionals have had to deal with many COVID-related challenges around assignments and physical relocations, as well as counsel and support their organizations regarding new types of global work patterns such as virtual assignments and remote work.
Over the past year, the rental market in San Juan, Puerto Rico experienced a significant supply crunch of houses. Some of this supply crunch can be directly attributed to changing consumer desires during the COVID-19 pandemic. In cities around the world, demand plummeted for small apartments in city centers while it surged for houses in the suburbs with additional...
After crude futures turned negative in Q2, there seemed only one direction for prices to go – up! AIRINC’s quarterly comparison of petrol pump prices from Q2 to Q4 shows that prices in most researched countries increased, particularly our top five as ranked by percent increase: Zimbabwe, Suriname, Canada, Ethiopia, and Malaysia. For some, this is a cost-driven change; for others, this is a reflection of currency adjustments.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a historic drop in demand for petroleum products. In addition to reduction of fuel use for air and sea transport, on-road passenger travel has been impacted as consumers are driving significantly shorter distances and less often.
This catchy term seems to be popping up with increasing frequency in articles and blogs regarding global mobility trends. Although AIRINC’s most recent Mobility Outlook Survey indicates only 14% of companies currently employ a core/flex approach to promote flexibility for the business, many companies are expressing a keen interest in learning more about how core/flex works, and whether it is an effective way to help businesses manage assignment costs.
Last week AIRINC held several virtual roundtables regarding COVID-19. These sessions gave our clients a forum to discuss the issues they are facing and how they are handling COVID-19 concerns. From these discussions we are in a bit of a wait and see period. The initial rush of company evacuations and self-initiated leaves has started to settle. With travel restrictions – both by governments and by corporate companies – relocation, repatriation, and new assignments are currently greatly hampered.
During these unprecedented times, Global Mobility is challenged with the difficult task of supporting an international workforce amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. This survey focuses on how companies are handling their international expatriate populations, and the steps Global Mobility is taking to address the unique circumstances due to COVID-19.
In this unprecedented time, AIRINC has created a landing page to serve as a hub to help you learn more about how your peers in global mobility are responding to the impact of COVID-19. In addition we will share advice from our team, exchange rate changes, upcoming events, blog posts related to the crisis, and relevant documents. We also plan to add information related to the COVID-19 recovery.
