Easing Those Transfer Blues

By Laura Koss-Feder

Jim Beard, 52, is in the hotel business, so it's almost axiomatic that he has sympathy for the travails of the traveling--or moving--businessperson. Especially if it's him. Last April he took a job as vice president of operations for Regent International Hotels, a chain of luxury hotels owned by the Carlson Cos., a travel and restaurant conglomerate based in Minneapolis, Minn. The switch meant a move from Dallas to Minneapolis for himself, his wife Barbara and daughters Cassandra, 8, and Lauren, 10. Beard likes the new employment opportunity, but as a veteran of 14 previous employment relocations, he was braced for a rough landing.

What could have been a relocation nightmare, however, turned into something of a dream. Carlson flew the Beards to Minneapolis twice so they could get a feel for the area even before he formally accepted the job, and paid an outside real estate company to show them around the most attractive residential sections of the city and surrounding suburbs. The real estate firm also offered the relocating family detailed demographics on various suburbs, including the rankings of their schools and the projected economic viability of these various towns. This way the Beards would have as much information as possible to help them decide which part of town would be right for them to move to. For Beard, the ultimate epiphany came when his new employer offered to pay $2,500 to have his 500-bottle wine collection specially packaged, stored and air freighted to Minneapolis. This was always an expense Beard had picked up in past moves. "I couldn't believe it. No employer had ever offered to do this much for me and my family before," says the astonished Beard.

Well, nobody has faced this job market before. At a time of near record U.S. employment, workers with previous experience are at a premium--wherever they are. Beard is just one of some 880,000 people who will move this year for their jobs. And their new employers realize they must do more than ever to ease the bump of dislocation in order to keep the best and brightest from simply finding another job down the block. This is especially true in the legal, finance, banking, consulting and technology industries, where top talent comes at a premium. In fact, nearly 80% of companies are using relocation assistance as a major recruiting tool, according to statistics from the Employee Relocation Council (E.R.C.) in Washington.

In addition to labor-market tightness, the prevalence of two-earner families and the greater importance professionals are placing on family life are adding to the challenges of making a job move tolerable. "Ten years ago, there was no value placed on the trailing spouse and kids," says Paul Purcell, executive vice president with Douglas Elliman, a national real estate company based in New York City. "But all that has changed. Nowadays someone's teenager can make or break a move."

As a result, says H. Cris Collie, executive vice president of the E.R.C., "you're seeing more lucrative and comprehensive relocation packages." They aren't cheap at the best of times: experts estimate that corporations spend some $30 billion annually moving employees to new jobs. But today moving packages are becoming part of the executive wooing technique.

These new-wave services are in addition to the more traditional benefits: payment of moving expenses, temporary housing, payment of closing costs and attorney fees or rental-agent fees for a new home, and assistance in selling an existing residence. More than half (53%) of all relocations are accompanied by a promotion, the E.R.C. notes, and a growing number of companies take account of cost of living increases. Some companies will provide monthly mortgage subsidies for the first three to five years of a relocation, if the transferee buys a comparable home in a higher-cost area.

Even first-time employees are benefitting, according to Collie. PricewaterhouseCoopers now provides reimbursements of as much as $5,000 for relocation-related expenses for its new M.B.A. recruits, says Gene Kossman, managing director of benefits and relocation. Five years ago, new hires just out of grad school were not given this perk. In general, the firm has enhanced all its relocation services. For instance, there is more in-depth trailing-spouse employment help. And finding schools for children now receives more attention, including taking parents on guided tours of various facilities. Overall, the professional-services firm's relocation costs have gone up about 25% during the past five years. The reasons: globalization, a hike in real estate prices and commission fees, and an increase in the level of services offered to transferees.

PricewaterhouseCoopers is not far off the norm. The average cost to move an existing employee domestically who owns a home rose 22% between 1990 and 1998. For new hires who own homes, the cost increase was 27%, according to the E.R.C. What things, specifically, are going into the mix? Companies generally farm out relocation duties to real estate companies and relocation firms. They're paying greater fees to these sources, in the form of higher real estate commissions and more fees for complete advice and counseling to employees on all aspects of a new location. With family resistance being the primary reason for an employee's reluctance to relocate in today's dual-income households, more companies are giving greater attention to the employment needs of the trailing spouse. This includes paying for career counselors, providing a month's compensation for any lost wages and making referrals to headhunters.

"It's more than just resume preparation these days," says Lorraine Bello, vice president for REA, a Millburn, N.J., career-counseling company specializing in spousal assistance. "We can teach spouses how to network and can help identify job leads in their fields--whatever it takes to make the relocation happen." Carlson Cos. has begun inviting relocating spouses to special orientation sessions, says John Burns, director of human resources for Carlson Hospitality Worldwide, a division of the company. Job interviews can be arranged, where appropriate.

More and more often these days, women are the ones who force a family to decide to move. For Kelly Shillito, 35, district human-resources manager for United Parcel Service, the assistance provided to her husband Michael, 38, in looking for a civil-engineering position made all the difference in their decision to relocate from their native St. Louis, Mo., to her new job in Omaha, Neb. An outside career-counseling firm did a market analysis for him and ultimately recommended engineering companies and headhunters for him to contact. One of these referrals resulted in a job, and a 10% salary increase. "Moving was a difficult decision," says Shillito, who won a promotion with the relocation. "Michael is cut from the traditional mold; it was somewhat hard for him to follow his wife for her job."

Employers are also tending more to relocating families' personal as well as professional needs. For Mark Adler, 51, moving his family from Atlanta to Houston last November was made easier because a relocation company hired by his employer personally took him and his wife Elena, 46, to search for a private school for their daughter Alexandra, 12. The relocation company even helped the Adlers find a stable where Alexandra could continue her horseback riding. Adler, who is director of forecasting for Minute Maid, a division of the Coca-Cola Co., has gone through about five relocations during his 23 years with the company. "In the past, we might have been given a list of private schools, but that's it," Adler says. "No one was going to take us around to these schools and really take an interest in helping us select one."

Tracy Johnson, 35, a lab manager for Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., based in Stratford, Conn., says he would not have considered uprooting his family from their home in Alamogordo, N.M., if the relocation package hadn't been right. Among other things, Sikorsky provided Johnson and his wife Donna, 35, with detailed information on child-care options available for their 18-month-old son Jacob. They were given the qualifications, services and costs for all day-care centers and baby-sitting services within a 15-mile radius of the new home they are purchasing in Milford. "The day-care center is gorgeous; it's one of the nicest I have ever seen," says Johnson, who started his new job in March. "This kind of help made a big difference in deciding whether to move."

So if someone comes wooing, and you have to decide whether to uproot, how far can you go in asking for ways to soften the new landing? Right now, the sky may be the limit. "If you are fulfilling a big need in a new location, then go for it and ask for everything you want," recommends Dennis Taylor, senior consultant with Runzheimer International, a travel-management consulting firm in Rochester, Wis. If you don't get it all, you may still get more than you expected.