An expert panel on the landscape for Domestic Relocation in India

 

 

 

Show Notes

In a special Benivo Bites this week, Brian Friedman (Benivo Strategy Director) and Nitzan Yudan (Benivo CEO) discussed domestic relocation in India, an area of intense interest and focus that is driven by the competition for talent, along with talks on dedication to employee experience and growing program ownership by Global Mobility teams. 

The special panel of experts joining Brian and Nitzan on this episode were: 

  • Suresh Balan - Deputy General Manager at HCL Technologies 
  • Venkatesh Kulkarni - Global Mobility Manager at Robert Bosch
  • Pankaj Bhatia - Pacesetter Business Advisory 
  • Rohini Ramya - Partner at Taxkode Consulting

In addition to the show, Benivo released a new 2021 Benchmark Report on Domestic Relocation to India based on personal one-to-one interviews with HR and GM leaders in 16 companies.  The report focuses on the causes and solutions for why over 50% of HR leaders are not satisfied with the status quo solutions currently in place for their domestic programs in India.  It also looks at the opportunity to save between 15 to 20 hours of internal work per employee relocation.  The research found that 75% of the companies surveyed did not use their RMCs for the moves and when they do, they use it for minimal services.  The report offers details into what packages are offered by companies, examines how the programs are managed, what technology is in use, and how companies are making the choice between in-house and outsourcing.  You can download a full copy of that report here

Experts Weigh in on the India Domestic Relocation Landscape

The panel brought some valuable insights into the scale of relocations in India.  The panel explained the intricacies of the 28 states and 8 union territories,  as well as the many languages spoken in relation to different practices of relocating to each state.  The sheer volume of moves that have been reported are as high as 25,000 - 30,000 a year by some of the top IT companies but seem to be centralized to the larger cities like the “IT capital of India”, Bangalore. With such a volume of relocations, the needed attention is not always received and this presents a real opportunity for companies to take advantage of technology to improve the experience.

So, who owns India Domestic mobility programs? The historic norm has been for India domestic to be owned by local HR and Global Mobility wasn't involved,  but the trend is now towards Global Mobility having ownership of this.  As pointed out by the panel, the increase in travel over the years caused companies to want the relocations to be handled by professionals capable of  the complexities.  So, what is in the relocation package?  In the experience of the panel, it is mostly cash paid lump sum moves with very simple programs and little use of RMCs.  The panel also discussed how they are facing the challenges of finding talent.  If the relocation is to a Tier 2 city, the relocation package has to be competitive to incentivize. and if the opportunity is to a  Tier 1 city, then the work opportunity itself is attractive enough and the need is really for basic duty of care and efficient processes.

How can Benivo improve the experience?

Benivo offers an innovative solution dedicated to domestic relocation in India that enables delivering great employee experience, a significant reduction in manual work, which saves significant time at a fraction of the cost that traditional relocation solutions command. Some of the highlights and benefits of the Benivo solution are:

  • A consumer grade digital platform - with reviews, star ratings, and tips from colleagues who moved before
  • A single platform for all relocation questions, document signing, contact details, and processes
  • Directories of popular local vendors, with recommendations from colleagues
  • Expense management, payment processing, and lump sum disbursement in INR with a next day money delivery
  • Destination support to handle local admin, school search, areas to live, local culture, and places to go out or to explore during the weekend.
  • A dedicated spouse support platform including the ability to connect to other partners, find answers, and build relationships

Learn more about Benivo’s solutions for India Domestic Relocation by booking a demo with the team here: https://www.benivo.com/contact 

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The Immigration Update by Julia Onslow-Cole at Fragomen

Julia’s highlights on Feb 3rd were: 

1. Scheduled incoming and outgoing international passenger airline services have been suspended until the end of February. 
2. Travel is permitted via non-scheduled flights under the Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) and air bubble arrangements, but it is very advisable to double check all the health and safety requirements before travel.  The Quarantine rules, and requirements around COVID tests etc., vary considerably in different states in India and outbound rules can vary significantly for various destinations. 
3. Immigration policy in India does not cover remote working for visitors, and those on work visas who have moved to another city must register with the FRRO if they are there more than 8 weeks. Compliance is key. 
4. Outbound from India, due to the increased COVID strains throughout the world, the Embassies and Consulates are not fully operating. It is important you check carefully what applications they process and their opening times.