Employees put family commitments before career advance

Employees are most likely to turn down the opportunity of a job relocation because of the impact it would have on their partnersí careers, according to a survey of employers by IRS Employment Review, published by LexisNexis Butterworths.



The study found that the most common barriers preventing any employee from taking up the opportunity of a potentially career-enhancing move were (in rank order):


their partnerís job,
parental responsibilities,
language abilities,
carer responsibilities,
lack of interest, and
fear from being away from the centre of power.


But when employees are relocated, London, the South East and South West and East Anglia are the most popular UK destinations. Western Europe tops the international league for staff relocation, followed by North America (see charts below for details).

Employee relocation may cover a multitude of situations, from the organisationally complex decision to move an office or factory to a new site, to the small-scale but glamorous world of international assignments. The most common reason for relocating a staff member, chosen by seven in 10 employers (73%), is because they are the ìright person for the jobî. Career development and promotion are also important reasons. Employee motivation ranked the least popular reason.

IRS Employment Review conducted the survey on staff relocation in May 2005. This drew responses from 45 organisations, employing a total of 96,703 people. The full report is published in the latest edition (827) or available online at www.irsemploymentreview.com.

Other key findings include:

UK destinations, ranked by popularity:

London, East Anglia, SE England, SW England, Yorkshire and Humberside, Scotland, Wales and Midlands.

International destinations, ranked by popularity:

Western Europe, North America, Indian sub-continent/South-East Asia, Far East, Middle East, Australia & New Zealand, Eastern Europe/Russia, Africa and South & Central America.

Why do organisations relocate particular staff? These responses were ranked in order by employers:

Right person for the job
Career development
Promotion
Skills shortages
Spread company culture
Alternative to redundancy
Training others
Employee motivation

IRS Employment Review managing editor, Mark Crail said:

îMost organisations need to relocate only a handful of employees each year, with international relocation still less common. But there is little evidence that either domestic or global relocation is becoming less common, and alternatives such as the use of short-term assignments or recruitment in local job markets is doing little to eat into the opportunities available.

îAlthough there has been little change in employeesí willingness to relocate for work in recent years, family commitments can deter individuals from coming forward ñ particularly when their partnerís job is at stake. However, few employers appear to take this into account in the support they offer employees who are on the move.î