Talent immobility is a rising issue as ongoing lockdowns and travel restrictions disrupt business trips, rotational assignments, and hiring. Here’s a look at how talent development can continue even as talent mobility remains on pause.

For years, it’s been no big deal to freely travel among major Asian markets. Rotational assignments were eagerly accepted along with expat postings. Then COVID-19 put the brakes on movement, locking talented employees into a fixed geography and curbing everything from recruitment to reassignment.

Fortunately, talent pools can still be nurtured and grown even when both prospective hires and existing employees are unable to travel or relocate. It does require certain mindset shifts and a new approach to recruitment, development, and retention. In particular, firms need to be prepared to give top performers more incentives to stay on, boost localized talent development programs, and put long-term goals over short-term challenges.