Guest editorial: Global mobility and digitalization

Abstract

Guest editorial: Global mobility and digitalizationassignments within multinational corporations (Holtbr€ uggeSchillo, 2008;Lauring et al., 2024;Wicht and Holtbr€ ugge, 2023).These assignments allow employees to fulfill their expatriate job roles remotely using digital communication tools to connect with foreign colleagues, clients and business partners.The use of technology has also facilitated the development of other alternative forms of international assignments by providing tools that enable more flexible and shorter-term relocations.Examples of such assignments include flexpatriates, international commuters and short-term assignees (Jooss et al., 2024;M€ akel€ a et al., 2017;Selmer et al., 2025).Another emerging trend is digital nomadism, where individuals work remotely from anywhere in the world using online connectivity (Cangi� a et al., 2022;Shawkat et al., 2021).In this type of work, individuals travel independently to locations that align with their immediate preferences or requirements (Richter and Richter, 2020;Zhou et al., 2024).Thus, the advancements in digital technology have introduced new possibilities for expatriate assignments, potentially serving as alternatives to more traditional forms.Second, the development of new advanced digital tools has the potential to significantly transform the nature and experiences of work during expatriation (Bucher et al., 2025).While the utilization of digital technologies in expatriation has received increasing attention, much of the focus has been on communication technologies (Nardon et al., 2015;Selmer et al., 2022) and social media support (Canhilaa et al., 2022;Sahakiants and Dorner, 2021).However, digital tools offer a broader potential to reshape the overall nature and experience of expatriation.They can provide new ways for expatriates to engage and communicate with colleagues in both host and home countries, as well as to interact with the host country's environment and key stakeholders, such as government officials and/or the host country's social communities.These tools can also be effective in supporting the well-being and adaptation of family members by offering, e.g.online schooling for children or socializing as well as remote work opportunities for spouses.Ultimately, they are likely to have a significant impact on expatriates' host country adjustment and expatriation satisfaction.Yet, these broad implications of digital tools for the nature and experiences of expatriation remain underexplored and poorly understood.Finally, advancements in digital tools are reshaping the expatriation process in numerous ways, providing effective tools to prepare and support expatriates at different stages of the expatriation cycle.For instance, recent research has explored the use of AI in human resource management (Budhwar et al., 2023;Pan and Froese, 2023).These tools have the potential to significantly impact several stages of the relocation process, from expatriate selection and predeparture cultural and language training to intercultural competence development and host organization's socialization and finally repatriation or subsequent relocations Journal of Global Mobility: The Home of Expatriate

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