Survey: Women Less Likely to Buy Relo

November 16, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Worried about their spouses and families, women in the US are not as likely to agree to a business relocation, a survey showed.

A news release from Prudential Relocation said that its survey with Worldwide ERC, an association for global workforce mobility found that, 66% of women and 81% of men typically accept a relo offer within the US. The largest proportion of relocated employees for permanent (47%), short-term (34%) and commuter (36%) assignments within the United States are married men.

Women appear even less likely to accept short-term assignments, which may last from one month to one year. The survey noted that 80% of men, and only 60% of women typically accept such temporary assignments.

A majority of survey respondents indicated that they use relocation as a tool to groom employees for more demanding leadership roles. Nearly three-quarters said employees who wish to advance into senior positions need to relocate with the company at some point during their careers.

Respondents said that women place much more emphasis on family issues than men and weigh such positives as “moving closer to relatives,” “improved opportunities for spouse’s job,” and “better opportunities for children” more heavily in their decisionmaking process.

For both men and women, the high cost of housing is one of the top reasons they would be reluctant to accept a transfer. Survey respondents also noted that men and women strongly agree on “employee/family resistance to the move” and “undesirable location” as major factors in reluctance to relocate. However, while men’s reluctance issues are prioritized largely from a financial orientation, women again place a higher value on family considerations.

The survey is here .

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