Meet Martha, Mateo and Callie and see how their employees are supporting them through a domestic relocation.
In today’s post-pandemic world, workers focus more on the type of experience they expect from their employers. Employee mobility and relocation opportunities can significantly enhance this experience, opening new avenues for career growth and more flexibility.
On the flip side, domestic relocation costs can quickly escalate without proper planning. An employee relocation calculator can give you a better insight into the incentives you should offer to encourage your employees to move.
What is an employee relocation calculator?
An employee relocation calculator is a tool that helps you determine what incentives you will need to offer your employees if you are asking them to move. Instead of guessing the amount to offer them, an employee relocation cost calculator gives you location-specific, data-driven information on cost of living. This information also helps keep relocation costs under control.
Presenting this data along with your offer can help convince employees who might be struggling to decide.
Real-world examples
Examining real-world examples of employee relocation can help your business get a better idea of what you need to do for your employees. Let’s consider three examples based on Mercer’s Employee Relocation Calculator.
Meet Martha – senior engineering manager
Martha is being asked to relocate to a city with a higher cost of living.
Martha earns $195,000 annually and lives in Princeton, New Jersey, with her spouse and two kids. Her company wants her to move to San Francisco to oversee a new team at her company’s regional office.
According to the Employee Relocation Calculator, Martha’s cost of living expenses will increase by $49,722, covering housing, utilities, goods and services, and state and local taxes.
In this scenario, her employer could offer her a higher salary or an allowance to offset these costs. This could be paid either as a lump sum or phased out over time.
Martha’s employer also wants to cover her moving expenses. Mercer’s relocation tool calculates a lump sum payment that includes:
- Gross-up
- Home-finding trip
- Final move
- Temporary living arrangements
- Shipping household goods
In Martha’s scenario, the calculator estimates $47,935 for moving costs. Armed with this data, her employer can now make an informed, data-backed offer to Martha.
Meet Mateo – accounting professional
Mateo is hoping to relocate, by choice, to a city with a lower cost of living.
Mateo, an accountant in Chicago earning $50,000, is keen on career advancement options and decides to take an opportunity within his current company in Houston, Texas.
The cost of living in Houston is less than in Chicago. Mateo’s cost of living should decrease by $5,556. His employer may consider helping him with moving costs, estimated at $5,726 in lump sum assistance.
Offering relocation support to employees, even when their living expenses decrease, is a good way to demonstrate your commitment to employee well-being and career advancement.
Meet Callie – compliance manager
Callie is being asked to relocate to a city with a lower cost of living.
Callie, earning $125,000, lives in Seattle, Washington, with her spouse and one child. Her company’s Atlanta, Georgia office is underperforming. Their best option is to send Callie to Atlanta to help the office recover.
Using the Employee Relocation Calculator, they find that Callie’s family will save a significant amount of money by moving to Atlanta. The calculator shows her cost of living will decrease by $28,199, which will essentially be a pay raise for Callie.
The company also wants to support the logistical challenges of moving across the country. They estimate a lump sum of $38,876 for finding a new home, temporary living arrangements, and other costs.
With this information, her managers can present Callie with a win-win scenario: the struggling office gets the help it needs, while Callie and her family will be more comfortable financially.
Why use the Mercer Employee Relocation Calculator?
Moving cities is a massive undertaking. Leaving family and friends in a familiar city can be hard even for situation like Mateo, who requested the move. For people like Martha and Callie, they may not be ready or willing to move to a new state simply because their job asked them to. Whatever the case for relocation is it’s important to make sure your employees feel supported. Using real-world data from an employee relocation calculator can help you ensure you’re doing so at an efficient cost to your organization.
The Mercer Relocation Calculator comes with numerous beneficial, user-friendly features, including:
- Cost-of-living calculations
- Lump sum calculations
- Data for over 11,000 locations
- Best-in-class user experience
- Ability to bookmark preferences
- Custom inputs
- Automatic data updates
- Unlimited calculation pricing options
- Data exporting
With this data, you can offer a more successful moving experience to your employees. Your employees feel confident knowing they won’t face unexpected costs in their new location, while your business can keep relocation costs under control.
As you think of your total rewards offering and adding more flexibility to your employee value proposition, take advantage of the numerous data-driven tools offered by Mercer.
Ready to get started with your employee relocation plans? Contact Mercer today at 866-605-1031.