Corporate Relocation are on the Rise, According to Atlas Van Lines Survey

Odds are, either you have moved for a job or you know someone who has. Corporate relocations are not only common, but they are on the rise.

For nearly 50 years, Atlas Van Lines has collected insights from HR and mobility professionals and analyzed changes in the industry and compiled the findings into an annual report. This year’s report, the 49th Annual Corporate Relocation Survey, makes it clear that businesses show no signs of slowing down when it comes to relocating employees.

According to the survey, there were more corporate relocations in 2015 than 2014, with more expected this year. In fact, 50 percent of businesses saw relocation volumes increase overall and internationally in 2015. 

In addition to relocation volumes increasing, the budgets companies put in place for these moves is also increasing. In both 2014 and 2015, nearly half of all companies said their relocation budgets increased, and 41 percent believe their budgets will increase again in 2016.

So, what else does the Corporate Relocation Survey reveal?

More young people are relocating. Forty-three percent of responding firms indicate that the average age of the employees they relocate most frequently is under 36 years old.  

…and so are new hires. On average, companies stated that 22 percent of their relocations in 2015 were for entry-level positions and around half were for mid-level. Nearly half of all relocations (47 percent) were for new hires.

Full reimbursement is out, Lump sum is in. For the second year in a row, full reimbursement of expenses for new hires (36 percent) is out of favor in comparison to lump sum payments (45 percent) and partial reimbursement (38 percent). Historically, this is the lowest level of full reimbursement for new hires as measured by the survey. 

More companies are offering alternative arrangements. Roughly two-thirds of companies are using alternative assignments of some type; 65 percent of firms continue to indicate they have a formal short-term/temporary assignment policy; 52 percent have an extended business travel policy; and 40 percent have a policy for long-distance commuters.

Finding talent continues to be an issue. Lack of qualified local talent is still the top external issue for relocation cited by participating firms (42 percent) followed by economic conditions (32 percent).

Company growth is top of mind. Company growth is the internal factor cited (39 percent) most often with combined company expansion efforts coming in a close second (37 percent).

This year, 445 corporate relocation professionals completed Atlas’ annual corporate relocation survey, with the respondent demographic including human resources/personnel and relocation/mobility services departments for service, manufacturing, wholesale/retail, financial and government organizations.

You can check out the complete survey results here, and an infographic highlighting the differences in corporations' international versus domestic relocation policies here.