4 min read

Despite significant investments in hiring, retention, and workforce development, many large organizations continue to face a core challenge: enabling their employees to discover and pursue new opportunities within the company itself. 

Internal mobility holds significant promise. It offers a faster, lower-cost way to fill roles, keeps institutional knowledge in-house, and improves employee engagement. Yet, it remains deeply underutilized in most organizations.  

According to LinkedIn’s Global Talent Trends, 93% of companies say internal mobility is critical to retaining talent, yet only a fraction of them feel they’re doing it well. The same report shows that employees at companies with high internal mobility stay nearly twice as long. 

Why Internal Mobility Is Still So Hard 

For employees, the lack of transparency is a constant source of frustration. Many are unsure where to look for internal roles, whether they’re even eligible, or how their current experience fits future opportunities. This often leads to disengagement—or departure. 

At the same time, managers can unintentionally discourage movement. They worry about losing top talent, or they lack incentives to share strong performers across teams. Without a coordinated approach, individual goals can clash with organizational priorities. 

From the enterprise side, the issues are equally systemic. Skill data is often scattered across systems or outdated. Workforce planning lacks real-time insight into who is ready to move, who is at risk of leaving, or which skill pools are growing or shrinking. Internal hiring decisions become reactive rather than strategic. 

These challenges are amplified at scale. In large, matrixed organizations, it’s common for qualified employees to go unnoticed for roles posted just a few departments away. Recruiting externally for those same roles not only costs more but sends a signal that growth comes from leaving, not staying. 

What the Data Tells Us 

Mercer’s 2024 Talent Trends report notes that 70% of employees are willing to leave their organization if they don’t see a future for themselves there. At the same time, external hiring is becoming more expensive and less effective. Studies from SHRM show that external hires take 20% longer to onboard and are more likely to leave within 18 months compared to internal hires. 

Meanwhile, the skills companies need are evolving rapidly. Gartner has found that nearly 60% of the workforce needs new capabilities to keep pace with their current roles. That makes internal redeployment not just beneficial, but necessary. 

A Shift in Strategy 

Some leading organizations are starting to get this right. Salesforce recently piloted an internal mobility platform that enabled employees to explore open roles and career paths through an AI-enabled system. Within months, 74% of users had interacted with the tool, and nearly 90% of openings in the pilot group were filled internally. 

Schneider Electric has similarly reported measurable benefits from creating visibility into internal opportunities, including higher retention and productivity gains. These companies are treating internal mobility not as a perk, but as infrastructure. 

Their success isn’t driven just by technology, but by a cultural and operational shift. They view employee growth as part of business growth, and they invest in systems that make that possible, systems that unify skills data, enable matching based on capabilities rather than just past titles, and support employees in charting personalized career paths. 

Building the Foundation for Scalable Mobility 

Scaling internal mobility requires more than technology. It takes integrated systems, clear processes, and a culture that encourages movement. When learning, performance, and skills data are connected, organizations can identify gaps and surface internal talent more effectively. Just as important is making career growth visible and actionable. When employees understand how to progress and leaders support talent development across teams, mobility becomes a powerful driver of retention, agility, and long-term growth. 

As employees demand more transparency, and enterprises face increasing pressure to do more with existing talent, the question becomes clear: can your organization see its own people—and are you ready to move them? 

To explore how WCC Workr can support your internal mobility strategy, contact us to start the conversation.