What Do You Have to Offer to Get People to Relocate?

We've seen a big increase in employee reluctance to move, so we certainly weren't surprised to see this recent article in WorkLife entitled, “Employers boost incentives to get staff to relocate”.  

Our own recent 2024 Global Mobility Trends Survey Report shared that reluctance to relocate remains a significant concern, with employee (26%), spouse/partner (33%), and family (33%) resistance being notable barriers to offer acceptance. Additionally, 28% of mobility programs have experienced increased negotiation from employees regarding relocation or assignment terms, often due to key impediments to acceptance. 

The reality is that a little over a year ago, the share of job seekers who relocated to take up a new position fell to 1.6%, the lowest level on record, in the first quarter of 2023. This data comes from a quarterly survey that’s been carried out by executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. for decades. Additionally, the most recent Atlas 2024 Corporate Relocation Survey shared that 64% of companies reported that an employee declined relocation last year. 40% of companies reported that the number of employees declining relocation increased in 2023 compared with 2022. 

Behind the shift in attitude lies a post-pandemic surge in remote and hybrid positions, which has made it possible for more workers to stay where they’re living even as they change jobs. While we are seeing an uptick in volume, at this point it is hard to say where things will settle as it relates to RTO and hybrid work.

That said, many companies are still wanting to relocate their employees, even if the selected work structure is hybrid with 2 to 3 days in the office. At the same time, employee views around moving for work have shifted post-pandemic, putting more value on work-life balance, family and community. The catch these days is that employees also have far less leverage than they did during the Great Resignation. While some may be forced into moving closer to work, companies are still trying to entice them a bit, and upping the offer when asking current staff and candidates to make such a major life change. 

Drawing from the Atlas data, this article shares that companies are incentivizing staff to relocate by offering to cover travel expenses, giving relocation sign-on bonuses, and offering guaranteed employment contracts for a specified amount of time. According to the article, “Almost all companies reported boosting their nonstandard relocation incentives last year.” 

Here are a few stats to consider from the article:

1. Last year, 44% of companies offered sign-on bonuses for staff relocating.
2. 42% offered contracts guaranteeing employment for a certain time period.
3. More companies offered cost of living adjustments, with 42% last year saying they had included it.
4. Many programs have made adjustments to policy or are reviewing to consider increasing lump sums, miscellaneous allowances and over spend per move. From our Trends survey: 54% of mobility leaders indicated they would be adding, removing, reviewing, and/or revising policies.
5. More traditional “tiered” programs have seen an increase in negotiating and exceptions.

Interestingly, Plus's data from our Point C technology points to another element of these incentives - that flexible benefits lead to fewer employee negotiations and cost increases for relocation support. In a recent panel session at the Relopalooza conference, one corporate mobility leader shared that in reviewing their data around employee satisfaction and cost, they realized  that increasing the number of benefits within their flex options (of their core-flex policy) elevated their satisfaction scores incrementally without adding “choice fatigue” or cost! Their insight was “The more options, the more flexibility, the better the experience and higher the satisfaction scores!”