The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Employee Relocation

By: Viktor Reznicek, Vice President, Relocation & Assignment Services, ACS, a Xerox Company

Few industries offer such a mixed bag of “good news and bad news” as Employee Relocation. US companies are slowly starting to hire and move employees. The numbers are rising here.  That’s good news…and it’s borne out in the 2011 Worldwide ERC Transfer Volume & Cost Survey.   The bad news is that new hire relocations are low historically-speaking as companies are slow to expand their payrolls.

In housing and lending, the good news is that US banks are finally starting to make headway in processing their large backlog of delinquent loans.  The bad news is that the survey showed that state governments continue to slow the foreclosure process and are just delaying the inevitable decline in home prices.

One piece of good news that has no bad news corollary is the “hardening” of relocation management companies (RMCs).  The decline in relocation volume and company relocation budgets has presented RMCs with two options, innovate or disappear.   Several of the largest relocation companies have been acquired by competitors or private equity firms.  ACS got into the relo business at the right time, buying ExcellerateHRO in 2010. Smaller RMCs have disappeared.

ACS has innovated.  This has meant…

  • Leaning heavily on technology to drive down our cost-to-serve
  • Leveraging our size and scale to negotiate stronger discounts to pass on to clients
  • Creating performance-based partnerships with suppliers
  • Going where clients need us

So while the challenges of getting the right talent to the right place at the right cost remain high, companies can take heart in knowing that the RMC partner they select is stronger and more client-sensitive than ever before.  At ACS, we have 21 offices in 13 countries covering 21 languages, so we’ve got you covered around the world. We’re the only relocation company that’s part of a Fortune 500.  With recent recognition as Relocation Company of the Year by The Forum for Expatriate Management and HRO Today’s Baker’s Best, industry observers like what we’re doing for our clients.

You can listen to this podcast to learn more.

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5 Comments

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