On the move: Companies plan more job relocations

After a slowdown in corporate moves the past few years, more companies are planning to get their employees moving, according to a new survey.

An overwhelming number of employees who declined a move did so because of housing and mortgage concerns.

Twenty-six percent of companies plan to relocate more workers this year than last year, according to the 2012 Corporate Relocation Survey, conducted by Atlas Van Lines.

The top places for corporate moves is the Northeast (42 percent), followed by the Midwest (37 percent), South (31 percent), and the West (26 percent).

The Atlas Van Lines survey also found:

• 86 percent of companies plan to spend as much or more on relocation in 2012 than in 2011.
• More companies are also now offering relocating employees full reimbursement, not just lump sum or partial reimbursement.
• 52 percent of all relocations last year were for new hires.
• The most frequently moved employees in 2011 were aged 36-40.

Some employees decline to move

In 2011, 57 percent of companies say that employees declined a relocation. The top reasons that employees said they did not want to relocate:

• Housing and mortgage concerns: 71 percent
• Family issues/ties: 64 percent
• Personal reasons: 42 percent