Report: Companies cut relocation benefits in 2010

A new study detailed the effect the economic recession has had on employee benefits.

The benefits designed to help employees move to new homes for a job suffered significant cuts, reported the Society for Human Resource Management. Most of the human resource professionals that were surveyed (63 percent) said that their company's benefits packages were negatively affected "to some extent" by the recession.

There were significant cuts to two of the 14 types of housing and relocation benefits, said the report. In 2010, the number of companies that provided location visit assistance dropped to 20 percent from 36 percent the previous year. Additionally, only 3 percent of respondents said that their companies offered rental assistance in 2010, compared to 12 percent in 2009. Since 2006, the number of companies that have offered either one of those benefits has shrunk by about 20 percent.

The report may indicate that fewer companies are willing to foot the bill on their employee's relocation costs, although many companies are replacing costlier benefits with "alternative, less costly, family-friendly benefits," said researcher Mark Schmit.

Without their company's help, more employees may be looking for creative ways to save on their move.

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