Data Watch

Weichert Relocation Resources Survey Finds Relocation Benefits Key to Attracting Critical New Hires

Nearly three-fifths (78%) of companies are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit critical talent today, finds a survey of 85 North American companies, who in similar numbers (81%) say concern over losing money on the sale of a house is their top recruits' biggest challenge. It is a scenario that is forcing firms to alter the relocation services they offer to attract top talent.

"Despite less-than-favorable market conditions, the need to recruit and relocate critical talent is unrelenting and essential to meeting vital leadership development and business expansion goals," says Jennifer Connell, manager of consulting services for Weichert Relocation Resources Inc. (WRRI), the company that conducted the study. "By adding more robust benefits to their new hire relocation policies, companies are overcoming resistance to relocation among key new hires, and keeping their talent management strategies moving fluidly."

Firms are responding to the situation by adapting the nature of scope of their approach to relocation. Two-fifths say they plan to add home sale incentives, while more than a quarter are adding guaranteed home sale programs. Moreover, just under one-third (30%) are adding extensions to temporary living arrangements. Other benefits cited include relocation bonuses, loss-on-sale protection, miscellaneous allowances and new home purchase costs. A review of more than 200 such policies being implemented by U.S. multinationals today cited in WRRI's news release further confirms these findings. Beyond boosting recruitment efforts, the revised relocation tactics companies are using translate to lower overall costs for a hiring organization and an accelerated assimilation into the new culture for new hires.