Virtual Assignment

Virtual Assignments (VA)

Traditional Definition

At the beginning, during the COVID travel restrictions, organisations wanted to keep the business running and turned to virtual assignments.

Moreover, it was a cost-effective alternative to physical relocation,and it opened up a global talent pool.

For employees it brought the experience of working internationally without having to move abroad.

Modern Interpretation

The VA scenario as an alternative for a physical assignment did not work because the experience abroad is almost totally absent from that equation.

Nowadays, virtual assignments have evolved to become essentially equivalent to business trips, simplifying many traditional expatriate concerns. Complex considerations around taxation, social security, health and safety, and immigration requirements have largely been eliminated from the equation.

However, a new challenge emerges: How do we handle situations where families desire to permanently relocate to a different country? This scenario reintroduces many of the complexities that virtual assignments were designed to avoid.