Helping the Spouse or Partner Find a Job

When Bob Smith's company offered to move him from upstate New York to Texas to fill a position in top management, he was delighted -- at least initially. Then he realized the relocation could have drawbacks. Although he would be climbing the corporate ladder -- a professional goal of his -- his wife also was a professional with a job she loved. Bob was fortunate. His company understood the important role a family plays in a satisfactory transition to another site. It had a comprehensive relocation package in place that included assisting the spouse or partner of the employee in finding a job in the new city.

A recent Employee Relocation Council (ERC) survey reveals that, in most traditional families today, both parents are in the workforce. A vital component of relocating a family into a new community is finding a job for an employee's partner or spouse. Concerns about the partner/spous's job or career can impact virtually all issues that the family must consider, including housing location, financial management and day care/school selection. The final decision on whether or not to accept the relocation may hinge on consideration of the partner/spouse's employment situation. It is important for a company to have a comprehensive relocation package that includes access to independent, objective information, so families can make informed decisions. Such assistance should optimize home-finding visits, minimize stress and loss of productivity associated with relocations, reduce transition time and contain costs. Almost half the organizations responding to an ERC survey report have some type of support for employed spouses written into their formal policies. An additional 21 percent deal with the issue of spouse employment assistance on a case-by-case basis. Only 31 percent do not offer any spouse employment assistance.

Programs to assist the spouse or partner in finding a job appear to be divided into two categories. The first -- the informal approach -- consists of networking help provided by the employee's corporation. This may include referring a partner/spouse to job contacts at other corporations or to persons within the company who counsel on job-hunting techniques; providing the partner/spouse with printed materials regarding job searches; or asking a real estate agent on the assignment for help. This option is usually free, but operates with little professionalism and certainly no credibility or consistency. A second option is turning the assignment over to a job counseling/placement firm. This approach provides professional management. While costs may extend from a few hundred dollars to several thousands based on industry trends, the average fees are around $2400 per candidate.

Job counseling/placement firms tend to concentrate on the counseling rather than the placement aspects of the assignment. They emphasize maintaining positive attitudes, recognizing depression, dealing with obstacles and coping with stress. Learning how to write resumes, how to interview and how to deal with rejection are also stressed. While this approach focuses on becoming a professional job seeker, this should not be the spouse's goal. The goal should be getting a job. A more effective strategy is to retain a firm that understands the most critical tasks to undertake are resume circulation and interview scheduling. Each transferring partner/spouse should have the assistance of an on-site counselor who is very familiar with the local job market, can assess the market in terms of job availability and salary ranges, who will then set up interviews for the candidate, persisting until a job is secured. Unfortunately, not enough firms offer this type of assistance. No matter what approach, it is important that any assistance has measurable standards and defined objectives. The corporations purchasing these services should be provided with status reports that include, at the very minimum: the start date of contact, degree(s) obtained, previous work experience, previous salary, number of resumes sent, number of interviews held, end-of-search date, position received, salary received and new employer's name. This information will enable the corporation to ensure accountability, analyze success rates and run comparisons among vendors.

While employment assistance is a benefit that most employees feel is key to their decision to relocate, some employers may be hesitant to offer it. Initial relocation costs already can be high (it costs corporations approximately $53,000 to relocate the average homeowing employee, according to the ERC). However, a comprehensive relocation benefits package that includes employment assistance helps ensure retention, morale and ease of transition. This, in turn, will generate savings for the employer. If the candidate and family are oriented to, and integrated into, the destination community and provided all the logistics necessary to fulfill those tasks, long-term savings may be achieved for the company as a result of reduced transition time. The sooner employees feel comfortable that their family is secure in their new environment, the sooner they will again become productive, focused employees. A useful resource for finding relocation services (including partner/spouse employment assistance) is the ERC Roster of Members and Resource Guide. This publication lists more than 30 sources, ranging from real estate companies and outplacement firms to relocation management companies, van lines and organizations that exist solely to offer spouse employment assistance.

Other similar resources are linked on the ERC Web site at www.erc.org Ilene Chait is co-founder of RAI, a Farmington Hills, Michigan-based independent corporate relocation firm providing employment assistance and other relocation services to global customers since 1979. For more information, she may be contacted by phone at 248-855-0199 or by e-mail at ichait@raiweb.com. by Ilene Chait

Relocation Journal & Real Estate News is an online publication of Mobility Services International (www.msimobility.com).