Hiring incentives are on the rise — how does that impact mobility?

It’s been pretty well established that the job market is in a unique place right now, as many organizations are adding new positions but potential employees are choosing not to return to work, which is presenting unique challenges to businesses.

In this market, employees are gaining more leverage, and that’s pushing employers to get creative in their efforts to recruit new talent. As the Society for Human Resources Management notes in the article below, we’ve seen wages go up recently, while companies are also more frequently turning to signing bonuses and other incentives to attract candidates. According to a recent study from Indeed, job postings that advertise some type of hiring incentive have more than doubled since last year. And searches by job seekers for these kinds of bonuses are up 134% since January.

Where does mobility factor into all of this? In an increasingly competitive market, mobility benefits and support can make-or-break an organization’s ability to attract a high-potential job candidate. This becomes especially important for organizations that may not be able to keep up with the competition (at least for now) when it comes to wages alone. As part of the “total compensation” offering made by a company, a robust relocation package can really stand out from the crowd.

And while attracting new employees is important, retaining existing talent is critical, too. With more and more job postings popping up but without enough candidates to fill them, employers will likely expand their searches and try to pry people away from other companies more than ever before. Employees also have more opportunities in front of themselves, as the rise of remote work makes it easier for them to consider openings that previously would have been inaccessible due to geography.

This all makes it a great time to consider fine-tuning your mobility offerings. Think about benchmarking your current benefits and policies to identify if you’re remaining competitive. Options such as rotational assignments — which give employees the opportunity to engage with different parts of an organization while developing themselves professionally — could be very enticing in this environment.