The COVID-19 pandemic inspired a trend of assignees working remotely and moving from downtown living spaces to more suburban areas.
The Greater Bay Area (GBA) is China’s ambitious goal to develop an integrated economic and business hub that links its two special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau along with 9 Chinese cities across the southern China region.
We have recently seen an increased level of interest from companies who are keen to find ways to capitalize on a softer rental market. Objectives vary greatly but identifying ways to manage program costs is an important priority for companies. After taxes, housing is one of the big-ticket items in any global mobility program.
Global Mobility is often challenged by local HR about the housing budgets in a given location. What do you do in this case? Do you consider HR’s input and potentially adjust the housing budgets accordingly, or do you maintain the housing budgets based on the data from your provider?
Mark Twain famously said, “buy land, they’re not making it anymore”. This rings true today as it relates to the U.S. housing market. Various reasons – local market conditions, lack of supply, robust demand from homebuyers as they take advantage of historically low interest rates, etc. – have caused a surge in home prices.
Global Mobility is often challenged by local HR about the housing budgets in a given location. What do you do in this case? Do you consider HR’s input and potentially adjust the housing budgets accordingly, or do you maintain the housing budgets based on the data from your provider?
In general, getting an employee to accept a domestic relocation can be difficult. It is not easy to uproot a family, logistically manage a move, and establish oneself in a new city. However, it can be even more challenging when the new location is considerably more expensive.
Talent Acquisition Managers and Recruiters are experts at selling the prospect of working at their company. There are issues that candidates consider that these companies can’t control…cost-of-living being one of them.
The Hague’s rental market has been facing an affordable housing shortage over the past several years. During my research, local housing sources explained that the rental market is used primarily by expatriates and lower income individuals. Fewer expatriates are arriving now, and many existing tenants are extending their leases.
The rental market in Moscow was greatly affected by the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, which resulted in many expats leaving the city, while simultaneously the local population suffered from a sharp increase in unemployment. Many expensive properties were left vacant by the exodus of expatriates, with the local population generally unable to spend as much on rent.
