Moving and Economic Growth - How the Economy Fuels Relocation

When the economy is poor, people tend to stay in the jobs they have and not leave them voluntarily. During an economic boom, however, people are more likely to change jobs - and thus more likely to relocate. Companies also have more available money, making them more willing to pay relocation expenses for a potentially valuable employee.

The current state of the economy

The economy is certainly doing well.

• During the second quarter of 2017 the U.S. economy showed the strongest growth since the first quarter of 2015, showing a GDP growth of 2.4 percent. This is still weaker than 2015.
• The unemployment rate is predicted to drop to 4.3 percent in 2017and 4.1 in 2018, with private employers adding 237,000 workers in August.

What about relocation?

Relocation services are booming, especially given the following:

• Various jurisdictions are taking advantage by trying to encourage companies to relocate en masse. In Miami, that assistance is provided by the Beacon Council, the official development partnership for Miami-Dade County.
• Companies relocating or expanding can lead to employees also being encouraged to relocate and requiring relocation services. The relocation demand increase is likely to grow more over time, as long as the economy continues to recover.
• The sort of services needed and offered are also growing.

Overall trends in the economy also encourage relocation and movement of people, particularly the following:

• A growth in internships and short term jobs.
• Expectations for a more flexible workforce.
• Increased demands from employees for services to improve the relocation experience.
• A tendency for salaries to remain static and companies to use benefits to attract workers, and also to offer improved benefits rather than a raise.
• An increase in short-term assignments, leading to companies leveraging long stay hotels and furnished apartments to a greater degree, often for training or specific projects.
• Employees considering location factors such as climate, school quality, demographics and even local and state politics, in some cases taking a pay cut because of differences in cost of living or just to get to a better climate or closer to their family.

Takeaways

The takeaways for the relocation industry are the following:

• Companies are providing relocation support to more and more employees.
• Companies are also providing more flexible relocation benefits - core benefits still include travel, moving, and storage, but companies are now reimbursing home-finding expenses, helping employees cancel leases, putting people in touch with realtors and even allowing for a certain number of paid return trips home (particularly for international employees).
• Employees expect a certain amount of say in the benefits they are offered - and expect to be able to choose their own relocation company.

• Relocation expenses from the company's perspective tend to be well worth spending in order to get the talent they need.
• Companies will need to think about attracting and retaining talent more in an economic boom when people are less desperate and more likely to be willing to jump ship. They should also consider the value of employees who have a specific reason to want to relocate to their location, such as family - will they be more loyal or are they likely to take the package and then leave?