Relocation has definitely been one of the more prominent issues for recruiters in recent years, and the slow recovery of the housing market has continued to make it an issue. But how much of an issue? As much as it was a year ago? It was the answer to this question that prompted us to conduct a recruiter poll regarding the matter.
Specifically, the issue has been convincing candidates to relocate for new opportunities. Because of the state of the housing market, they’ve had difficulty selling their homes, which means they haven’t been willing—or able—to relocate. Needless to say, it’s been a frustrating situation not only for candidates, but also for recruiters, who would be able to place these candidates under so-called “normal” circumstances.
We polled recruiters from all across the country by posing the question below:
How difficult is it to get candidates to relocate right now, as opposed to one year ago at this time?
The choice of answers that we provided is listed below, along with the percentage of recruiters who selected each one:
- Much more difficult—22.7%
- A little more difficult—25.0%
- The same—38.6%
- A little easier—13.6%
- Much easier—0.0%
It would appear that overall, it’s now slightly more difficult to get candidates to relocate than it was a year ago at this time. However, let’s begin with the answer that stands out the most: “much easier,” which garnered no votes at all. That’s actually not very surprising. So that leaves the other four responses.
The answers “much more difficult” and “a little more difficult” combined for 52.7% of the vote. This means that right off the bat, over half of those who responded believe that getting candidates to relocate is more difficult now than it was a year ago.
Then there is the contingent of recruiters that answered “the same.” You might think this answer is a neutral one, but considering how difficult it was to get candidates to relocate 12 months ago, perhaps not. So the fact that many recruiters answered “the same” could be construed as bad news . . . or not the greatest news, at the very least.
Then there’s the answer of “a little easier,” which accounted for only 13.6% of the vote. That’s not a very high percentage, and remember that none of those who responded indicated it’s getting “much easier.” So in terms of conditions improving, only a handful of recruiters are saying that’s the case—as far as the housing market and convincing candidates to relocate are concerned, anyway.
What’s been YOUR experience? Has it become easier for you to convince candidates to relocate this year, as opposed to last year? If so, why? If not, why not? We encourage your feedback.