Relocation Benefits Continue to Evolve

Corporate relocation benefits have declined in recent years but there is one bright spot for candidates: employers are quietly being somewhat more flexible/generous with costs associated with relocating dual-career families. They are more open than in the past to stretching out reimbursement for a candidate’s temporary housing and commuting from the new location to enable more time for sale of the existing home, kids to complete school, and spouse to gear up a career search in the new city.

No longer commonplace are relocation packages that include buy-out of the existing home and reimbursement of loss on home sale, except in the case of C-level relocations. Even then, companies are hard-pressed to agree to cover these costs, perhaps concerned that the executive may be hoping to get out of a big, underwater mortgage.

The society of Human Resources Management recently polled companies on their relocation policies. Here is what they found:

• 29% of companies surveyed give a lump sum for relocation
• 19% reimburse shipping fees
• 12% offer help with spouse relocation
• 6% reimburse for loss from home sale

What trends are you seeing for relocation assistance? Do you envision major changes in the next few years?