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Don’t Forget! You Saw it in the
Adverti$$er
June 2022 #14275 Page #80
From the Road... Relocation Trends
By Thomas McAnally President TheJobLine.com
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n a recent article in MoneyWise, the top states for relocation to and from were listed and many of them were as expected: Arizona, Alabama, Texas, Florida, which are all warm states that draw northerners. BUT, some of the states were unexpected: Idaho, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and South Dakota, which are not on most people’s got-to-live-there list.
The usual reasons, such as moving from a high tax state to a low or no income tax state, or moving from a high population area to a smaller town, are high on the list, as is moving to someplace warmer with beaches nearby. Even retirement was a driving force, again for taxes and weather. Still, some of the reasons resonated with me as I am hearing the same things from candidates and employers. One of the reasons for relocation is driven by how people did during COVID, with lock downs, masks, sickness, and stress, especially if they had been living away from their family. One of the main reasons for relocating in 2021 was being closer to family and friends. I’ve seen it first hand: when Beth moved to Florida in 2015, she wanted to get away from the Indiana winters and her perfect place was Florida. She had vacationed here for years and felt it would be heaven, but over the years she has missed the friends and family she grew up with to the point that we are strongly considering moving back. At The JobLine, candidates are telling me they moved to “Their Perfect Place” a few years ago when COVID and remote jobs allowed them to pick a dream location. Many have been there a year or more and say the same thing: they miss family and friends; they miss four seasons. The hardest part is when a spouse is in that perfect place with no friends, no family, and the feeling of being trapped in that perfect place hangs heavy. Small irritations become major obstacles to being happy. As one candidate put it, “My wife left her lifelong friends when we moved to Florida’s gulf coast and now she wants to go home. I love it here but I love her more, so find me something back home.” Consider also that kids are especially vulnerable to landing in an unfamiliar place, with no friends and a lack of understanding of the local culture. They can find their way by joining sports and other organized activities, but the life and friends they left behind leave many depressed and unhappy. In some instances, the change of environments may have been the parents’ perfect place, but the kids hate it. As one remote designer told me, “My daughter hates it here and even ran away back home. She was a straight-A student back home, but now she is struggling with basic classes. PHONE: 800-289-5627
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