Historians have often divided the history of globalization into three time periods Globalization: 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0. Globalization 2.0 (1800-2000) is of particular interest, as it began after World War II when a new era of globalizing businesses was born. In an effort to cut costs and also expand into new markets, organizations readily deployed their human capital assets all over the world, to an unprecedented degree. While there was some regulatory red tape, mostly it was a financial and operational efficiency issue. However, since the 2008 economic crisis in particular, there has been a rapid growth in government regulations that have been erecting all sorts of obstacles to moving people across borders, forcing mobility — organizations' deployment of their human capital assets — into a much more board-level strategic sphere. For example, in 2010 the US implemented FATCA, where American citizens living abroad must pay US taxes regardless of who they work for or who they do business with abroad. Needless to say, other countries have followed suit. In addition, starting in 2017 the US immigration policy significantly tightened, making legal immigration much more difficult to obtain and increasing the denial rate on new H-1B petitions for high-skilled foreign nationals, at a time when many companies cited obtaining talent with key skill sets as their number one challenge. Also in 2020, with the formal withdrawal of the UK from the EU, Brexit further complicated the movement of employees cross-borders. With this dramatic shift in laws and regulations, organizations were subject to new risks and service delivery strategies suddenly became a high-level priority. 

In response to this challenge, professional service providers developed mobility service offerings that focused largely on compliance. Professional service providers, specifically multi-service firms, some consulting firms, and law firms, offer their expertise on immigration, taxes, social security, employment laws, payroll, and employee benefits and compensation issues, to name a few. In addition to this, some professional service providers who offer mobility services have used technology to help their clients become proactive in managing their service delivery needs. For instance, through the development or adoption of mobility software platforms, many offer the ability for HR professionals to manage payroll and compliance needs more efficiently, improve accuracy in cost projections associated with a mobile workforce, and manage third-party vendors. Many of these platforms also provide a user-friendly experience to the employee that keeps them informed on assignments, travel, immigration, and tax-related needs. With that said, after years of addressing the regulatory challenges that impacted mobility, many professional service providers have developed a solid framework around this service.