Dive Brief:
- Various midsize metropolitan areas around the country sport hiring rates well above the national average due to a focus on "a single home-grown industry so robust it can be an enduring job magnet, all by itself," according to a Jan. 9 LinkedIn report.
- Healthcare dominates many, responsible for hiring growth in Kalamazoo, Michigan; Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; Boston; Cincinnati, Ohio; and both Allentown and Erie, Pennsylvania.
- Meanwhile, Fayetteville, Arkansas, relies on retail for its job growth because Walmart's headquarters are located nearby. And manufacturing drives hiring in Huntsville; Evansville, Indiana; Detroit and Greenville, South Carolina.
Dive Insight:
As certain localities grow hot in hiring, relocation may be a factor employers and job seekers need to consider. In the current battle for talent, relocation strategies can be a win-win for both parties; a Robert Half poll published last year found that 62% of its survey respondents were willing to relocate for a new position.
In a separate poll, 2,800 senior managers the company surveyed said that, over the last five years, 34% of companies increased their relocation-package offerings to top candidates living outside their geographic area. According to Robert Half, 30% of companies don't offer any relocation incentives. "Relocation's function as the key-talent engine appears to be more crucial than ever to gain employees," Mary Beth Johnson, vice president, Atlas Van Lines Marketing & Avail Move Management previously told HR Dive via email.
It's not just job seekers who are relocating, however. Some companies choose to relocate when they can no longer sustain themselves in their current locations, due to talent concerns, expenses or other reasons.
