David Enser, Soren Sturup-Toft, and Jennifer Connell wrap up their Vision 2030 world tour by highlighting how global mobility can elevate itself into a core strategic corporate planning function.

What we discuss in this episode:

• Outcome-led design: Moving past generic policy manuals to measure actual corporate ROI and employee alignment.
• The 5-dimension scorecard: An introduction to the self-diagnostic framework assessing employee engagement, communication, top management support, digital maturity and digital leadership.
• The Vision 2030 Roadmap: Key release details on the upcoming summary papers covering Remote Work, the Gig Economy and Sustainable, Global Careers.
• The provider ecosystem evolution: Why viewing your mobility vendors as strategic partners rather than transactional suppliers is the ultimate linchpin of success.

Why are modern employees inherently less mobile, and how can organisations pivot before an assignment falls apart? 

In part two of our special series, The RES Forum and Weichert Workforce Mobility analyse the operational and psychological barriers that text-book policies fail to address.

David Enser, Soren Sturup-Toft and Jennifer Connell share real-world anecdotes comparing the 'salad days' of high-budget oil and gas relocations with the high-velocity, 'get-it-done' demands of modern tech hyperscalers.

What we discuss in this episode:

• The three CHRO blockers: Why rising nationalism, the dual-income household trap and the safety net of inherited wealth are making talent reject relocation.
• Virtual and distributed assignments: A look at how forward-thinking companies (like Bayer) are leveraging cross-border business travel over permanent disruption.
• The data holy grail: How global mobility teams can mine datasets and AI tools to screen for worker skills and for location resilience and suitability.
• The gig risk matrix: Assessing the compliance, intellectual property (IP) and tax tracking nightmares that come with managing a borderless external workforce.

Global Mobility is experiencing an identity crisis. To kick off this special collaborative mini-series, the RES Forum teams up with Jennifer Connell (VP of Advisory Services at Weichert Workforce Mobility) to dissect the data from our global Vision 2030 study - compiled from conversations with over 650 companies worldwide.

Alongside regular co-hosts David Enser and Soren Sturup-Toft, this episode pulls no punches on the friction between executive expectations and talent demands.

What we discuss in this episode:

• The 55% shift: Why predictions about the 2030 gig economy signaled a permanent disruption in the employer-employee relationship.
• Old rules vs. new blood: How pre-pandemic legacy organisations and post-pandemic distributed startups view workforce flexibility completely differently.
• The remote return backlash: A raw look at major tech giants forcing workers back to the office, and why Big Four consultants claim permanent remote setups are actively damaging junior talent development.
• Regional and generational divides: Why remote work demands are thriving in EMEA and the Americas, but completely non-existent in APAC.

Data-driven. Unfiltered. Essential listening for the modern mobility leader.

Brought to you by the RES Forum, UNRESERVED is the conversation about all things Global Mobility. Unscripted, unsanitised and unfiltered, we invite guests from across the industry to discuss the reality and challenges of global work in all its unpredictable glory. 

Hosted by RES Forum Director, David Enser, this inaugural episode offers an introduction to UNRESERVED and its co-hosts, Karlijn Jacobs (Founder of Expat Valley) and Soren Sturup-Toft (Immigration and Mobility Lead at Databricks). 

Together, they lay the foundations of the upcoming series with a discussion about the disconnect between boardroom expectations and global talent requirements. Using the RES Forum's groundbreaking Vision 2030 research as their starting point, the team examines the immediate future of a borderless workforce. 

What we discuss in this episode:

• Vision 2030 scenarios: building on an initial piece of academic research, the Vision 2030 project includes broad and diverse insights from mobility professionals to examine three potential futures for international work - an independent gig workforce, the "genie-out-of-the-bottle" remote work phenomenon, and the struggle to build sustainable global career pipelines.
• The Big Debate: Soren and David continue their debate on whether the future of global mobility belongs to AI, automation and operational efficiency, or if human-centricity is the ultimate key to success.
• The "checkbox" problem: Karlijn highlights a critical flaw in modern HR - why do employees tick the box saying they're "open to relocation" during annual reviews, but freeze when a real international vacancy appears?
• The executive bottom line: the ultimate success of a mobility programme doesn't rely solely on tech or family support, but on solving the fundamental leadership headache of how to  get talent into our succession pipelines in the first place.

UNRESERVED is a community-driven podcast. We want your unpolished industry understanding, your hot takes and your personal experience. 

If you have an opinion on this episode or want to join us behind the microphone, get in touch via office@theresforum.com

Like, subscribe, get involved and help us shape the future of Global Mobility.