Human resources executives of global companies are most concerned about rising housing costs and increasing requests from transferring employees, according to a recent report from Cartus Corp., a provider of global relocation services based in Danbury.
“Housing costs and temporary living expenses are the top two areas of concern for relocation professionals worldwide,” said Michelle Vallejo, Cartus senior vice president, account management, Americas.  “The survey found relocation professionals need to find additional ways to help their transferring employees get assistance for their spouses and also look for ways to provide additional settling in services.”
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition”™s 2015 “Out of Reach” report, Connecticut and New York have two of the highest rents in the country. Connecticut ranks eighth with an average of $1,263 for a two-bedroom apartment. New York came in fourth with an average rent of $1,335 for a two-bedroom apartment.
Both states are home to some of the most expensive metropolitan areas, with Stamford-Norwalk ranking second, Danbury ranking 10th and Westchester County ranking eighth.
The Cartus survey is a report from more than 150 human resources and relocation professionals taken at a recent meeting for Worldwide ERC, a workforce mobility association. Relocation managers ranked the following as their top five areas of concern for increased relocation costs: housing, temporary living, household goods shipments, compliance and schooling.
Human resources professionals say their relocating employees are also increasingly asking for additional benefits. Those surveyed have seen more requests for coverage in spouse career assistance, global settling-in services, pets and elder parents.
Relocation professionals said members of Generation X are the most demanding in terms of relocation benefits and process, followed by millennials and then baby boomers.
