Welcome to the June 3 issue of Mobility Minute, a newsletter published each Friday by Worldwide ERC® for the benefit of members and the global mobility and relocation industry as a whole. If you have a news tip or a suggestion for improving the newsletter, drop us a line.
What's happening?
Here's a quick glimpse of what you'll find in this week's Mobility Minute:
RDC Is Taking Action to Solve Housing Inventory Challenges
H-2B Temporary Nonagricultural Worker Visa Cap Reached
Employers Offer Workers Help With Naturalization
RDC Is Taking Action to Solve Housing Inventory Challenges
There is an inventory crisis that is making relocations more challenging. This is due in part to demographic issues –Millennials are having kids and buying houses – as well as an increase in location changes and an ongoing lack of sufficient new construction due to zoning issues, supply chain bottlenecks, and labor shortages. Upsizing due to remote work has also had a major effect on housing demand, as seen in new research this week from the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Why is this important?
Anecdotal evidence suggests many buyers are hesitant to relocate because of the cost of housing. To navigate these challenges, relocation directors are getting involved with local government and business leaders to build communities with the capacity to support new employers and attract talent. RDC and Worldwide ERC members, along with experienced relocation directors, are spending considerably more time counseling employees and families through these tough situations, bringing much-needed value to these experiences.
H-2B Temporary Nonagricultural Worker Visa Cap Reached
Worldwide ERC reported that on May 16, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a temporary rule authorizing the issuance of an additional 35,000 H-2B visas for the second half of the Fiscal Year 2022 for positions with start dates after April 1, 2022, through September 30, 2022. This increase is based on the time-limited statutory authority that does not affect the H-2B program in future fiscal years.
Why is this important?
The H-2B nonimmigrant program permits employers to temporarily hire nonimmigrants to perform nonagricultural labor or services in the United States. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has received enough petitions to reach the cap for the additional 23,500 H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker visas made available for returning workers. Petitions will continue to be accepted for H-2B nonimmigrant workers for the additional 11,500 visas allotted for nationals of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Haiti, regardless of whether they are returning workers as well as those exempt from the congressionally mandated cap.
In the recently proposed 2022 budget, the federal government of Canada committed to tackling the dramatic increases in the cost of housing and the resulting impact it is having on Canada’s economy. Measures include
$4 billion to launch a new Housing Accelerator Fund that will help create 100,000 new housing units over the next five years.
A Tax-Free First Home Savings Account to allow first-time homebuyers to save up to $40,000; doubling the First-Time Home Buyers’ Tax Credit to $10,000
Why is this important?
The practice of using a deed in blank avoids having the Relocation Management Company register title, thereby avoiding land transfer taxes. Forthcoming draft legislation will determine how the restrictions will be applied and whether it will be necessary for representatives of the relocation industry to lobby the government in recognition of the unique reason why U.S.-based Relocation Management Companies purchase properties in Canada is forthcoming.
Following a bumper 2021 that was full of IPOs and mega funding rounds, some of the most valuable start-ups in Europe are now laying off significant numbers of staff and drastically scaling back their expansion plans. — CNBC
Higher education institutions worldwide are undergoing unprecedented digital transformation accelerated by the pandemic. Meanwhile, COVID-19 has also exacerbated pre-existing gender gaps and worsened employment prospects for many young people. Youth employment fell by 8.7% in 2020, more than twice the rate for adults aged 25 and above. — World Economic Forum
A global study of 28,000 full-time workers, including 1,042 Australians, by technology firm Cisco, has found that four in five workers saved money while working from home. On average, they saved $216 a week as they cut spending on gasoline, commuting, food, and entertainment. The average increase in savings was 15.5 percent. — Financial Review
The risks to the global economy are many, leading to an increasingly gloomy view of the months ahead for corporate leaders, government officials, and other VIPs at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in the Swiss resort town of Davos. The war has been a thread, setting back the global economic recovery from the pandemic, economists say. — Read more on AP News
Employers Offer Workers Help With Naturalization
American employers are pushing to help workers obtain citizenship and other immigration benefits, an effort to attract and retain talent as government officials and business groups alike see immigrants as key to meeting US labor needs. Immigrants have made an outsized contribution to US labor force growth since 2010, a Goldman Sachs analysis found. But the pace of new immigration fell over the last two years. It makes more sense for employers to absorb a few hundred dollars to keep valuable employees who may have a choice of jobs.
Why is this important?
About 67% of naturalized citizens borrowed from high-interest sources like credit cards or payday lenders to finance the $725 naturalization fee that US Citizenship and Immigration Services charges, according to a survey from BlueHub Capital, a nonprofit community finance organization. The survey included more than 1,200 respondents who were non-citizen immigrants or naturalized between 2016 and 2021.
The initiative by employers demonstrates the premium employers are willing to place on maintaining their immigrant workforces. They’re also being rolled out as many industries face new hiring struggles—a challenge farmers dealt with for years before the current labor shortage.
The UK introduces a 'high potential' visa route for international graduates. Read more on People Management.
Tesla staff told that working remotely is no longer an option with Musk reportedly tweeting that they could "pretend to work somewhere else". Read more on Market Watch.
Working from home redefined exercise for many Americans. Read more in The Atlantic. How to make financial wellness part of your DE&I strategy. Read more on Benefits Pro.
On Tap
Worldwide ERC Member-Only Young Professionals Forum: Worldwide ERC® and the YP (Young Professionals) Task Force has worked hard to foster a community of rising leaders, ready to take our industry to new levels. This group provides a platform for you to network and benchmark on challenges, collaborate on innovations, or discuss topics impacting today's mobility professionals. Click here to join the young professionals' forum.
Worldwide ERC Member-Only Open Forum: This is a large public forum for open conversation, industry announcements, and sharing. Click here to join the open forum.
The lack of home inventory is causing frustrated buyers who would have preferred to purchase new or recently updated homes to instead consider older homes or those in poor condition. As a result, some real estate agents are marketing their listings as renovation opportunities or as teardowns. Naturally, teardowns are not suitable for mortgages so buyers need sufficient cash to purchase the new home and then finance the new build. never candidates for loans and require access to substantial cash. Buyers who cannot find a suitable home or have ready access to cash are beginning to look more seriously at renovating old and dilapidated homes. But many municipalities around the U.S. require an entire structure to be brought up to code if the cost of improvements exceeds 50% of the market value of the home. A buyer who hopes to invest $501,000 in a $1 million fixer-upper (not so unusual these days) would first need to bring everything up to code. For older homes, this includes asbestos and lead checks, decks, basement rooms without egress windows, venting, old electrical and plumbing systems, etc. Brian Grossberg, co-founder of Azure Development in Delray Beach, Fla warned readers of the Wall St. Journal that coastal buyers may even be required to raise the height of the building. Read More on Wall St. Journal
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