RELO Roundtable…a gathering place

If the tea leaves in the bottom of your cup this morning hinted at a possible move, or, if you’re in the industry and want something to do between stifling a yawn and sharpening pencils, than you’ll be interested in digesting Atlas Van Line’s 2009 Corporate Relocation Survey.

Hint.  The comprehensive, 151 page summary starts with “Projections for 2009 are not optimistic”.

Dig down deeper, however, and you’ll discover plenty of useful nuggets shared by human resource managers and personnel departments at some of the 320 domestic and international service companies (36%), manufacturing/processing facilities (33%), wholesale/retail establishments (13%), financial institutions (10%) and government/military move management offices (3%) and other (5%) corporate relocation specialists who took the time to respond to this year’s tally.

For instance, the report acknowledges that “Market pressures aren’t alone in pressing relocation volumes downward; employee reluctance to relocate appears on the rise as well. Roughly two-thirds (65%) of firms indicate employees declined the opportunity to relocate in 2008, and 28% report the number of declinations increased last year compared to 2007. Mid-size and large firms experienced the largest increases in declined relocations (28% vs. 11% in 2007 and 40% vs. 25% in 2007, respectively).”

Larger national and international firms reported their employees declined relocations at a significantly higher rate than regional firms. Housing or mortgage concerns and family issues are the top two reasons employees declined to move. This seems to validate many of the loss of confidence and trust issues that move managers and relocation planners are currently wrestling with worldwide. Not surprising – international moves are expected to increase for some segment of the respondents.

This is Atlas’s 42nd annual survey of relocation patterns volunteered by corporate insiders. The useful information has become a staple for anyone involved in human resources development, move management, or relocation planning. Those interested in participating in next years’ poll can sign up at the company website.

Atlas Van Lines is the largest subsidiary of Atlas World Group. The Evansville, Indiana based company specializes in corporate employee relocations domestically and worldwide. They’re also involved in the transportation of high-value items such as electronics, fine art and new fixtures and fine furniture.

The Corporate Relocation Survey is one of several informative annual surveys that Atlas publishes each year using a series of the popular XML file formats to easily and effectively engage potential customers and communicate with clients worldwide

This article was published at the Moving and Relocation page at the national media publication, Examiner.com – a new type of online journalism. Check it out!