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Five Trends Impacting Your Relocation Program Costs 11.24.2021 | Ellie Sullivan

relocation costs

While the pressure to control workforce mobility costs is omnipresent, the factors that influence your spend and assignment success can fall in and out of fashion quicker than that hoverboard in the back of your garage.

As Americans loosen their belts in preparation for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, we’ve prepared a quick appetizer post: a summary of some of the current and most pervasive trends challenging corporate relocation mangers and impacting program costs.

1. Increased focus on ESG goals. There is perhaps nothing of greater importance to all of us — not just as business professionals but as residents of Planet Earth — than the health of our environment. With increased focus on ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) guidelines, more corporate mobility professionals want to know how they can help support their companies’ sustainability programs. Something we recommend is embracing virtual service delivery; it can help your company reduce home search costs and your related carbon footprint while helping to build a stronger employee value proposition over time. That’s a smarter way to improve the triple bottom line: people, planet and profits!

2. The Great Resignation is fueling a fierce war for talent. Shifting personal priorities are driving higher attrition rates and global talent shortages are at a 15 year high, threatening business results. The good news is that in the midst of this shortage, your relocation program can be a talent “magnet,” supporting talent attraction and engagement while reducing recruitment costs and attrition. We help clients align their mobility and talent strategies to deliver exceptional Employee Experiences that keep talent happy and productive and help the organization achieve growth targets.

3. Work from anywhere is the new normal. Employees want the flexibility to work remotely and business is using extended business travel to better meet the needs of clients. Our SMARTRIP platform provides insight and peace of mind, minimizing the compliance risks associated with global mobility and business travel while improving duty of care and employee safety.

4. Global housing costs and demand are on the rise. While a robust real estate market is typically a good thing, an unfortunate byproduct is bidding wars that increase reluctance to relocate. Our counselors help prepare employees for the home search process, stretch their housing allowances/purchasing power, and arm them with tools and strategies to make quick decisions and get the properties they want. Faster moves reduce costs (for things like extended temporary living) and accelerate productivity.

5. Household goods transportation delays/capacity issues continue. It’s been a long, hard road out of the pandemic for the world’s supply chains, with no entity more profoundly affected than transportation. Although moving your employees’ stuff can be tough, we’ve been able to curtail dramatic price increases with the industry’s most effective supply chain management, leveraging volume, upholding demanding service expectations and offering a wider variety of cost-friendlier options, such as containers, small shipment solutions and furniture rental, to name a few.

Struggling with any of these barriers to smooth mobility and better employee experiences? Drop me a line and let’s chat.

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Written by Ellie Sullivan

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Ellie Sullivan, SCRP, SGMS-T, has over 30 years of experience overseeing critical mobility advisory initiatives, including policy benchmarking, proprietary research and tracking global trends and best practices. She is also the creator of our proprietary Optimization Lab format, which brings together Weichert SMEs and client stakeholders for day-long workshops to analyze current program challenges, identify solutions and create a road map to the ideal future state.

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