Talent Mobility and Management in the Global Economy: Managing Expatriates Post COVID-19

Patrick Mulwa; Emmanuel Asilaza

Authors

Patrick Mulwa UGSM - Monarch Business School Author
Emmanuel Asilaza Author

Keywords:

Global Talent Mobility, Expatriate Management, Strategic Talent Alignment, Post-COVID-19 Workforce, Expatriate Support, Retention Intentions

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted traditional models of global workforce mobility, forcing multinational corporations to reconsider how expatriate assignments are managed and supported. This study examines how organizational talent management strategies influence expatriate outcomes in the post-COVID-19 global economy. Specifically, it investigates the predictive relationships between Global Mobility Policies, Expatriate Support, and Strategic Talent Alignment and two key expatriate outcomes: Assignment Satisfaction and Retention Intentions. The study adopts a quantitative research design grounded in a positivist research philosophy and uses a cross-sectional survey approach. Data were collected from 312 respondents, including expatriates and human resource managers working in multinational organizations managing international assignments after 2020. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, and multiple regression analysis in IBM SPSS Version 30. The results reveal that organizational talent management strategies significantly influence expatriate outcomes. Strategic Talent Alignment and Expatriate Support significantly predicted Assignment Satisfaction, while Expatriate Support, Strategic Talent Alignment, and Global Mobility Policies significantly predicted Retention Intentions. Expatriate Support emerged as the strongest predictor of retention, highlighting the importance of organizational commitment to employee well-being and career development in international assignments. The findings contribute to the literature on global talent management by providing empirical evidence on the determinants of expatriate satisfaction and retention in the post-pandemic context. Practically, the study suggests that organizations should strengthen expatriate support systems, align international assignments with strategic talent development, and implement clear global mobility policies to enhance expatriate effectiveness and long-term retention in the evolving global work environment.

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