It’s a terrible time in the history of all time trying to buy a house. But for bosses, that means it’s always an opportune time to help workers, and if you’re looking for ways to sweeten a return-to-the-office deal, this could be the ticket.
According to a January 2024 survey of more than 1,000 workers and bosses by insurance company JW Surety Bonds, nearly half (47%) of respondents said they would return to the office if their company offered them housing benefits.
Additionally, nearly 7 in 10 (69%) are so desperate for employer-sponsored housing benefits, they said they would change jobs, or even their entire career paths, to work at a company that suited them offers. This is an indictment of the real estate market, of course, but it is also a statement of how much the yield of an office is still used as a bargaining chip.
Housing is the perennial white whale, given the number of buyers who are deprived by the scarcity of affordable options. It’s no wonder so many workers are willing to make drastic changes to secure the company-sponsored help they can get. Nearly half of workers would even be willing to live in a “company town,” JW Surety Bonds found, where most of their neighbors would be colleagues and managers.
More than 2 in 5 respondents told JW Surety Bonds they would sacrifice up to 15 days of vacation to get help with home-buying costs; Nearly a third said they would rather receive housing help than a raise, and this during a historic cost-of-living crisis, when most salaries can barely keep up with inflation.
Some companies are already taking action. A quarter of employers surveyed told JW Surety Bonds that this year they will consider offering housing benefits, averaging just over $6,000 per worker, particularly as a means of improving mental wellbeing and, of course, as a tool to attract workers to their desks. .
The impact of flexible working on housing
The housing crisis cannot be entirely separated from the remote work revolution. In recent years, as swathes of workers have moved further and further away from their offices, “donut cities” have begun to develop around major metropolitan areas. These are defined as a considerable increase in population in suburbs within easy reach of urban centres, where workers can ideally take advantage of the benefits of extra space without accumulating excessively long commutes.
“Hybrid work is fundamentally reshaping the geography of work,” said Mark Dixon, CEO of IWG in a recent statement. “Outskirts [and] Rural communities around the world are being revitalized, and this trend will continue to accelerate in the coming years.”
Indeed, such benefits would be a game-changer for super commuters, some of whom have reported Fortune last year that a combination of housing unaffordability and hybrid work pushed them more than two hours away from their employers. According to a recent Stanford study, among employees hired last year, the average distance from home to work is 35 miles, up from 10 miles in 2019.
As with benefits like public transportation reimbursement, asynchronous work, and extensive paid time off, housing benefits – unsurprisingly – improve morale. Nearly 4 in 5 workers (77%) who have long received housing assistance benefits from their employers said they were very satisfied with working with JW Surety Bonds. They also reported improved overall well-being and productivity, which should always be the goals of companies. For those whose companies do not offer this service, the percentage reporting high satisfaction dropped to 60%.
But despite the evidence, most companies remain slow to adopt. Only 13% of respondents told JW Surety Bonds that they received housing assistance of any kind from their employer. It’s time for them to get on board if they hope to retain talent in the future.
Many employees have moved during the pandemic, LynnAnn Brewer, an executive consultant at human resources consultancy McLean & Company, recently said Of luck Sydney Lake and the return mandates have thrown a wrench in many of their plans. “Leaders must practice empathy and flexibility throughout the return process to mitigate the risks of losing talent or damaging employee engagement and employer reputation.”
Even a few thousand dollars more wouldn’t hurt.