Current trends in the relocation industry
When relocating either your employees or your business to the United States, it is essential that you understand the current trends in the relocation industry to make informed decisions ahead of and during the relocation.
Current trends in the relocation industry provide a roadmap for you to follow when relocating your employees or business. With the knowledge you gain from studying these trends, you will be able to structure your relocation program in a way that adheres to today’s practices and helps you stay up to date on tax and legal requirements.
Additionally, familiarizing yourself with the current trends in the relocation industry is vital if you want to source the very best talent for the job. This article brings you up to speed on what’s new in the relocation industry in 2021.
Relocation policies
A relocation policy is a document that maps out the benefits employers are willing to provide for their employees when said employees have to relocate. It is essentially a document that maps out employees' rights, responsibilities, and entitlement when you require them to relocate.
The policy may include:
Pre-decision counseling on whether the move is the right choice for the employee,
Departure and destination assistance such as:
selling their current home if it applies to them,
finding a new home with Expat US
moving household goods,
moving company and insurance coverage,
auto travel reimbursement, and
other services they might require to make the transition as seamless as possible.
There are different types of relocation policies companies utilize when structuring relocating costs for employees. Some of them are:
Lump-sum: with lump-sum, you give your employees a pre-agreed-upon sum to cater to their relocation needs. The disbursement of the funds is at the discretion of employees.
Reimbursement: with reimbursement, employees pay for all the relocation expenses with the expectation that their employers will reimburse them for most of the costs if not all. Here, the employee is expected to keep all receipts intact as proof.
Third-party relocation: with third-party relocation, a company hires an external relocation service to help employees with everything required to make the relocation as seamless as possible Expat-US
Core benefits: with core benefits, employers ensure that all employees receive the essential benefits they need to relocate successfully. Depending on where the employee is relocating to, these benefits may include pre-relocation counseling, assistance with selling their home, finding a home in the new location, final trip to the destination, moving household goods, etc.
The current trend regarding relocation policies
A current trend in the relocation industry is that companies are now combining policy types to create hybrid policies that are beneficial to both employers and employees. One of such combinations is a mix of lump-sum and core benefits. With this kind of hybrid policy, you meet your employees' core relocation needs and cover the rest of their relocation expenses with either a lump-sum payment or a flexible budget.
These types of hybrid policies lead in industry trends because they give employees some flexibility in spending and help employers save on unnecessary expenses. For example, if you had previously used a lump-sum disbursement relocation policy for everybody, some employees may not need all those benefits for their relocation. However, with a more flexible relocation policy, you will save on those unnecessary costs while providing your employees with what they need.
The role of technology in relocation
The world is now a global digital village, with everything running on technology, and the relocation industry is not exempt from digitization. With cloud and web-based technology, you can gain a competitive advantage by positioning yourself as a tech-forward, modern and innovative employer.
With relocation technology like zenmoov, you can modernize:
your policy creation,
how you administer your relocation benefits, and even
how you reimburse expenses
As an employer, you can use relocation technology that helps by providing access to the following:
Relocation authorization tool
Invoice history
Move cost estimator tool
Reports in real-time
An Overview of all relocations with drill-down capability
Employee satisfaction ratings
Authorizations to date and by policy type
Let us assist with your corporate relocation today
With over 250 consultants all around the US, we provide relocation services for companies and individuals in major cities across the United States. Our consultants have the same values of excellence and customer service. You can rest assured that we will meet your relocation needs in a highly satisfactory manner. Reach out to us today, and let's get things started for you!