It’s a terrible of all time moment in history when I’m looking to buy a house. But for bosses, that means it’s a great time to help workers – and if you’re looking for ways to sweeten a return to office agreementmaybe this is the ticket.
According to a January 2024 survey Of more than 1,000 workers and bosses surveyed by insurance company JW Surety Bonds, almost half (47%) of respondents said they would return to their office if their company offered them housing benefits.
Additionally, nearly 7 in 10 (69%) need employer-sponsored housing assistance so badly that they said they would change jobs – or even their entire career path – to work in a company that offers them. It’s a critique of the real estate market, of course, but it’s also a statement about the importance of an office’s return on investment. still used as currency.
The accommodation is perennial white whaletaking into account the number of private buyers of lack of affordable options. It’s no wonder so many workers are willing to make drastic changes in order to get all the help they can from the company. According to JW Surety Bonds, almost half of workers would even be willing to live in a “company town,” where most of their neighbors would be co-workers and managers.
More than 2 in 5 respondents told JW Surety Bonds they would sacrifice up to 15 vacation days to get help buying a home; nearly a third said they would even rather get housing assistance than a raise — and this is happening during a historic time period. cost of living crisis while most wages are barely keeping pace with inflation.
Some companies are already getting in on the action. A quarter of employers surveyed told JW Surety Bonds they would consider offering housing benefits this year – an average of just over $6,000 per worker – specifically as a way to improve mental wellbeing and, of course, as a tool to attract workers to their desks. .
The impact of flexible working on housing
The housing crisis cannot really be separated from the remote work revolution. In recent years, as many workers gradually moved increasingly far from their offices, “doughnut towns” began to grow around major metropolitan areas. These are defined as a considerable increase in population in suburbs within commuting distance of city centers, where workers can ideally enjoy the benefits of additional space without accumulating excessively long commutes.
“Hybrid work is radically reshaping the geography of work,” Mark Dixon, CEO of IWG, said in a statement. recent statement. “Across the world, suburbs (and) rural communities are being revitalized and this trend will continue to accelerate in the years to come. »
Indeed, such perks would be a game-changer for super commuters, a handful of whom said Fortune Last year that a combination of unaffordable housing and hybrid work forced them into more than two hours of door-to-door contact with their employers. Among employees hired last year, the average distance between home and work is 35 miles, up from 10 miles in 2019, according to a recent study. Stanford study.
As with benefits like transit reimbursement, asynchronous work, and plenty of paid time off, housing allowances — unsurprisingly —improve morale. Nearly 4 in 5 (77%) workers who have long received housing assistance from their employer reported high job satisfaction at JW Surety Bonds. They also reported an improvement in overall well-being and productivity, which should always be the goals of businesses. For those whose companies do not offer this benefit, this high satisfaction percentage fell to 60%.
But despite the evidence, most companies are slow to adopt this technology. Only 13% of respondents told JW Surety Bonds that they received housing assistance of any kind from their employer. It’s high time they got on board, if they hope retain talent down the line.
Many employees have moved during the pandemic, LynnAnn Brewer, executive advisor at human resources consulting firm McLean & Company, said recently. said The wealth Lake Sydney, and mandates to return to power undermined many of their projects. “Leaders must demonstrate empathy and flexibility throughout the return process to mitigate the risks of losing talent or harming employee engagement and employer reputation.
A few thousand extra dollars wouldn’t hurt either.