While employers continue to struggle finding qualified workers for skilled positions, 32 percent say they're willing to pay for relocation expenses in 2012, according to a nationwide CareerBuilder study.
Another 19 percent of respondents say they're willing to pay a smaller first-year salary in exchange for a signing bonus to relocate an employee. More job candidates also are looking at relocation opportunities, the study finds, as 44 percent of workers says they're willing to relocate for a career opportunity. Among workers who were laid off in the last year and found new jobs, 20 percent moved to a new city or state.
"One of the key trends we saw coming out of the recession is the movement of labor in and out of markets across the United States," says Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder. "Workers have had to expand their job search geographically and employers in need of hard-to-find, skilled talent have had to recruit across state lines. Our new site CareerRelocate.com helps workers identify relocation opportunities and understand related costs, so they have the right information in hand for their next career move."
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Although respondents indicate they'd move staff and new hires for many positions, the main sectors most likely to receive paid relocation perks are within technology and revenue-generation markets. These include engineering at 30 percent, information technology at 23 percent, business development at 21 percent, sales at 21 percent, finance at 16 percent, marketing at 13 percent and legal at 11 percent.
Of the surveyed workers who relocated in the last year, 77 percent say they were happy with the move and didn't regret it. Those workers say they benefitted in multiple ways, including making a fresh start at 30 percent, making new friends at 31 percent, having new experiences at 29 percent, earning more money at 27 percent, having better long-term career opportunities at 22 percent and finding nicer schools at 19 percent.
Among the relocated workers, 41 percent report their families didn't join them, and they have to travel to see them. Some of the top challenges for relocating are a higher cost of living is higher at 26 percent, more stress on the family at 24 percent, difficulty in making new friends at 18 percent and feeling homesick at 16 percent.
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