Could Telework Be The End of Relocation Packages?

February 6th, 2012

In recent years organizations have had to look into new ways to cut costs due to the recession. One way to cut costs, is to reduce the benefits provided to employees. One benefit that looks to have been reduced is the offering of relocation packages to employees who aren’t local to a position. Before the recession began 42% of companies offered relocation packages to new employees, more recently only 25% of companies offer the same benefit.

One would imagine that offering a relocation package could be quite pricy for an organization, but in order to hire the best person for a position accommodating a move is necessary. Is it really necessary though?

In the past the answer would have certainly been yes, but now more employees than ever are effectively telecommuting. With SaaS, The Cloud, mobile devices, and video conferencing organizations can hire top talent wherever they live and have them contribute to the organization from thousands of miles away. Relocation benefits may be declining, but because of telecommuting this should not have an impact on an organizations ability to hire acquire top talent for a position.