And in today's competitive corporate environment, as top companies vie for prospective applicants with the high-tech skills they demand, corporations have determined that dangling certain benefits are necessary in order to sweeten the pot, so to speak. Companies have moved beyond merely paying the moving expenses of new hires and current employees relocating to another branch office. Recognizing the national movement to strike a balance between work and family, employers are helping the spouses of transferring employees find jobs, helping their children locate quality education, and offering other benefits to help ease the transition and keep employees' job satisfaction at a high level. While helping children find good schools is an important part of the relocation process, the last-minute nature of many transfers makes it difficult to analyze the emotional needs of children in the event of a transfer.
Stress begins as soon as the transfer is accepted.
In most cases, the transferring employee sets up camp in the family's new hometown for a specified period, and the rest of the family moves later, usually because parents want their children to complete the current school year rather than uprooting them mid-year. This obviously creates stress on the spouse left behind and on children, particularly if they're young. Some relocation specialists are beginning to doubt the importance of waiting until summertime to embark on a move, however. First of all, summer vacation has become shorter in recent years. Educators are arguing the merits of shorter, more frequent breaks throughout the year instead of a lengthy summer break.