Dive Brief:
- Zapier, a startup specializing in workflow automation, is offering employees living in the San Francisco Bay Area $10,000 to "de-locate" to other places of their choice, reports SFGate.
- Zapier CEO Wade Foster told SFGate he recognizes that the Bay Area is an expensive location in which to live and work, even for families with two-income earners. So, the company is offering its all-remote staff an incentive to move to less expensive sites.
- SFGate says employees who accept the offer must use the money as reimbursement for relocation expenses for the first three months and make a one-year commitment to work for the company.
Dive Insight:
Big U.S. cities often are too costly for many workers. It's one reason why remote work has emerged as a talent solution, especially for growing tech-focused companies.
However, a trend among millennials is to live and work in large, vibrant cities like San Francisco, where they can easily get to theaters, retailers, restaurants, concerts and other arts and cultural events. Companies that once moved their main offices from the city to the suburbs are forced to close their suburban offices and head back to urban areas where millennials prefer to settle down. Balancing the urban migration with rising costs will continue to be a challenge for employers everywhere.
A $10,000 relocation stipend can be an attractive benefit for job seekers. Foster said that since Zapier publicly announced the de-location incentive, it has received several applications for openings at the company.
