Relocation benefits may be the key to a successful RTO mandate

Employers are doubling down on return to work efforts, even if that means bringing people back from out of state. But without the right benefits, their strategies will fail. 

Work relocations accounted for almost 10% of all moves in 2022, according to a survey from Wheaton Worldwide Moving, a moving and storage company. Since the rise of remote and hybrid settings, work-related relocations have dropped, but those numbers are once again on the rise. Employers without a strategy and the comprehensive benefit packages to support those moves will find themselves losing out on valuable talent. 

"[Since the pandemic], people have moved away from their location or they've made different changes to their work and home life," says Kelly Cruse, vice president human resources and chief diversity officer at Atlas, a moving and relocation firm. "Some of them have left their organization because they don't want to return to the office, so employers need to find ways to relocate employees successfully."  

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But it's not just employees' outlook on relocation that has changed over the years — it's also their expectations of the process. In 2024, 58% of organizations reported that their relocation offers were declined, according to Atlas' findings. While that is lower than years prior — 64% in 2023, 67% in 2022 and 68% in 2021 — employee skepticism points to a wide range of logistical issues benefit managers will need to address.   

Family responsibilities emerged as the leading reason for declined relocation, including the challenges of having school-aged children, followed by dual-income households where a partner would influence the move. Housing market volatility and rising mortgage rates also played a large role for individuals who passed up on relocation offers. 

"All of these topics are coming up in the relocation conversation that HR professionals should  be considering when making those job offers," Cruse says. "We need to figure out how to partner with the individual as they're relocating to make sure that the package and the program fits those individual needs so they make the decision to relocate  for us." 

Customization is key

What one person considers important in a relocation package will vary greatly from one individual to the next, which makes individualization critical for organizations. Some employees may want access to childcare or elder care, while others may need housing benefits that subsidize mortgage rates or help them secure short and long-term rentals. But adding multiple options to a single benefit could get expensive for employers quickly. Cruse suggests benefit leaders partner with a moving solution that has the resources at the ready.  

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"The last person we relocated had kids who weren't going to finish school for another six to eight months, so he wanted extended temporary housing in the new city," Cruse says. "Our relocation platform worked with me throughout the process so we could tailor the package to his needs and find him something temporary that allowed him to keep his home in his original location while staying within our own budget."

If partnering with a third-party isn't possible, organizations can make it so that employees themselves can decide how to spend their relocation budget.  While there is no guarantee that relocation support will keep employees from leaving for remote opportunities, making the process as seamless as possible could improve recruiting and retention in the long-run. 

"Any type of retention is around flexibility and relocation falls into that," Cruse says. "It can be in our health plans, our work schedules or our location, but it all comes down to creating flexibility around the unique needs of our workforce, while staying profitable."