What Prospective Employees Really Want in a Post-COVID Era
COVID-19’s grip on the world has proved to be enduring. While there was a glimpse of normalcy returning in the late spring and early summer of 2021, the constant mutation of the virus has kept us from truly living as we did before the pandemic. The Delta, Delta+, and now Lambda variants have shown that we are not out of the woods, but instead, are entering a new phase of living with this virus for at least the foreseeable future. However, what happens if and when we do “go back to normal”? Since so much of our way of life had to be adapted, halted, or altered for well over a year, it is easy to understand why our “normal” may be different from what it was before the pandemic. With these significant changes in our way of living and working, we began to see substantial shifts in where people wanted to live. During 2020, moving wasn’t significantly hindered by the pandemic. While some people chose to move back home with family or relocate to another city during that challenging year, the majority opted to leave towns in favor of suburban or more rural areas. The reason for this was that people wanted more space, both inside and outside their homes, while seeking a lower cost of living. Remote work opened up a whole new world of possibilities for millions of people, and as it proved to endure, more employees began looking at their lives through a shifted paradigm, one in which they could work from anywhere.
Initially, remote work presented some significant challenges and curveballs for organizations and employees alike, who had never relied on Zoom to conduct business before. However, as often happens, time makes things familiar, and as remote work became comfortable and, for the most part, effective. It proved itself to be enduring. So much so that more than half of employees are still working remotely midway through 2021, with an estimated two out of every five employees expected to continue working remotely at the end of 2021, this means that remote work for many companies will likely remain one of the lasting impacts of COVID-19 for the coming years. This is likely because remote work offers numerous benefits to companies. By having employees work remotely, firms require less office space, and the office space they do need may not have to be located in a city with high overhead costs if they have a substantial percentage of remote employees. The pandemic made many companies realize that for some or all roles, in-person work wasn’t necessary. As a result, we have seen firms making significant changes to their remote work policies, with
many big-name firms adopting a permanent and fully remote approach. Additionally, many companies downsized their offices and/or relocated during the pandemic, particularly those in California and New York, which sought lower overhead costs while also witnessing their workforce leave those states for the same reasons. So, what does this all mean for companies’ recruiting and retention efforts?
Recruiters know that an increase in remote jobs also means more competition for the same talent. Being able to work from anywhere means that top talent can openly vie for better offers from other companies in other states without having to weigh the requirement of moving for the job. It also raises the question of companies potentially being able to save on payroll costs by hiring qualified candidates who reside in locations with a lower cost of living. With remote work becoming a fixture in our way of working, it raises questions about employee preferences. We know remote work has proven helpful for many companies in terms of lowering overhead costs, but do employees actually prefer it to being in the office? For recruiters and companies looking to make competitive offers to top talent, is remote really the best choice? To answer this question and others related to how the pandemic influenced employee attitudes on moving and work, northAmerican® Van Lines and Corporate Relocation Today surveyed 477 employees across varying seniority levels and industries.
Do Employees Want Remote Roles?
According to our findings, for Director-level and below, fully remote roles were the most desirable, with 57.2% of respondents at the director level or below indicating a strong preference for fully remote jobs. A close second were roles that required a mixture of in-person and remote work. Interestingly, for senior and VP titles, there was a shift in preference, with 61.5% of senior respondents wanting a mix of in-person and remote working. The difference here could be related to generational differences, with senior positions being more likely filled by people with a longer history of working in the office. It could also be that those charged with managing more people may feel more inclined to have at least some in-person face time. Regardless of the difference between these cohorts, the numbers don’t lie: some or all remote roles are strongly preferred over full-time in-person. From a recruitment perspective, these findings suggest that to be considered competitive in making offers for Director roles and below, fully remote work is the ideal, and some mixture of in-person and remote would be a close second. For those recruiting for more senior roles, the goal should be a mix of in-person and remote work to remain competitive.
To read about all of our findings, download
our whitepaper entitled “Relocation and Delocation in the Post-COVID Era”.
Does a Remote Role Automatically Make an Offer Competitive?
Not so fast. It may be easy to assume that with a fair compensation package and remote offerings, your firm would be viewed as competitive. However, for reasons discussed above, competition is intensifying as the labor market becomes more competitive. Meanwhile, remote work is no longer a major differentiating factor in a landscape where more than half of employees continue to work remotely. That being said, there is no denying the findings, and it will be interesting to see how those firms that are pushing full-time in-person work for all roles will fare in terms of recruitment and retention. So, while remote offerings are attractive and vital, they are not uncommon enough to garner an automatic win from a top-tier candidate.
What Can My Company Offer to be Truly Competitive?
Sometimes, the most competitive offers are those that include an “outside of the box” component. As we mentioned earlier, 2020 saw many urban-dwelling individuals and families alike leave expensive and densely populated cities for more rural or suburban locations. While some of these moves were temporary and made to “ride out” the pandemic, many were for the long term, as more employees began to understand that remote work would become the new normal for their companies. While creating our study, this made us wonder about those who had yet to move as a result of the pandemic during the time of our survey. If becoming a remote employee led to a significant number of people relocating elsewhere, we were curious about the attitudes of those who hadn’t moved in 2020. If allowed to move for a job, we wondered if they would be more or less likely to accept, given the reality of the pandemic at the time.
Our findings were clear. Of our 477 respondents, nearly 65% stated that they were willing to relocate for a new job. Perhaps most interestingly, 30% of respondents indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic made them
more likely to relocate for a job. The pandemic created millions of remote workers and according to the best predictive statistics, many of those remote workers will stay remote both now and into the future. Additional research conducted in 2020 revealed that 22% of the American population either relocated or seriously considered doing so during the pandemic. With the data we have, it is easy to see that people may not only be more amenable to the idea of moving but may also be eager to capitalize on their new remote worker status. More space for less money is a new, feasible reality for many who no longer need to reside in or around pricey metro areas for the sake of being close to the office.
It is understandable that some people would want to move out of the city if given the opportunity. Not everyone loves being in the middle of the action, and saving money on overhead costs can have long-term financial benefits, while gaining more space can be refreshing, especially for those with or starting families.
Helping to facilitate these relocations may be the most innovative and competitive addition to both the offers being extended to potential new hires and to existing remote employees, promoting retention. This is a proven concept called delocation, and it is exactly what companies need to be offering to truly meet the needs of today’s employees and stand out in a competitive labor market.
Delocation: A Proven Concept Primed to Grow
While very few people have heard of the term “delocation,” it is a practice that has been in use for years among a small set of companies, primarily in Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. The idea behind delocation is that the company finances an employee’s move out of the city to a more affordable location while simultaneously offering remote work as an option. In other words, the company allows employees to work remotely and also offers to cover the cost of the employee’s move to a location that is often more affordable, with an overall lower cost of living. This makes affordable housing a possibility for the employee and enables the company to offer a salary that is more suitable for the employee’s lower cost of living. This lowers the company’s payroll costs because they no longer have to compensate the employee to make up the difference for the high cost of living in the city. If enough employees do this, it allows the company to either downsize its office space or move it to a more affordable location, creating further cost savings. Delocation truly is a win-win for employees who want more space for less and for the companies that employ them that desire lower overhead and operating costs themselves.
Delocation as a tool for recruitment and retention makes sense given our current situation in 2021. Even cities and towns are jumping on the delocation bandwagon in a way. Several cities and small towns have tapped into this desire that many remote workers are now showing signs that they are open, or even prefer, to live in less populated, more affordable areas. These towns are offering various types of cash incentives to attract remote workers, including funds to cover relocation costs. It’s easy to see that we are on the precipice of a significant shift in how we recruit and retain employees, as well as on a macro level, a change in where more white-collar workers will be living in the coming years.
What is the Best Way to Offer Delocation to Potential and Existing Employees?
While some firms may choose to provide employees with a lump sum payment to cover the cost of their delocations, that may not actually be the most attractive offer. Another aspect we set out to uncover in our research was to learn how much of a difference relocation programs made in the attractiveness of a job offer that required relocation. What we discovered is that when compared to lump sum, reimbursement, or no relocation program, a full-service corporate relocation program is
298% more effective overall in recruiting talent. When compared head-to-head with reimbursement, it was 80% more effective, and against lump sum, it was 22% more popular. What this means is that how companies move talent matters. Offering a delocation benefit via a full-service corporate relocation program is a unique offering that will win today’s companies top talent and better retention for their existing all-star employees. If your company already has a corporate relocation program, be sure to check with your provider to ensure that delocation is covered under your policy.
Employees Want Something Innovative That Changes Their Lives For the Better
The long-lasting, transformative effects of COVID-19 have made remote work a seemingly permanent fixture that, for the most part, people prefer. Being able to live and work from anywhere meant a shift in the paradigm for what was considered an ideal place to live. Proximity to an office is less important now than ever. Many remote employees enjoyed ridding themselves of long, arduous commutes, and for those who left cities, they found more spacious and affordable living situations. As mentioned previously, companies also enjoyed the cost savings benefits of a remote workforce, with many downsizing and/or relocating office space to more affordable locations.
The pandemic has spurred a major cultural and attitudinal shift, causing many to feel that cities are no longer worth their high price tags. As a result, companies that intelligently approach the way they structure their remote and in-person mix, while also offering innovative benefits like delocation to new and existing employees, will come out on top in this increasingly flat and competitive labor market. As municipalities begin recruiting remote workers with cash incentives, and more roles maintain their remote status, moving away from cities will likely continue to be a trend into the coming years. Tapping into the need for more affordable housing, more space, and the shedding of the densely populated urban lifestyle through delocation makes sense. Not only will it incentivize potential employees to accept your company’s offer, but it may also please current employees and make them stay longer, too. Your company will save on payroll costs on the roles they delocate, quickly recouping the price of the move while also creating the potential to downsize office space and save on overhead costs. Just make sure that you offer a full-service corporate delocation benefit over a lump sum or reimbursement. Not only will your employees be in safe hands and be more likely to have a successful move, but the offer itself will be viewed much more positively.
If your company is without a corporate relocation provider but you are interested in extending job offers to top talent with greater confidence and gaining a partner in your delocation efforts, email Bobbi Maniglia at Bobbi.Maniglia@northamerican.com. Plus, learn more about how our corporate relocation offerings can make job offers to highly sought-after talent nearly 300% more effective, support any-sized firm, and are fully inclusive of delocation.
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