Most companies prefer to hire local candidates, and it’s no wonder why. Candidates who are close by can easily come in to interview, move through the process quickly and are often more likely to accept a job than out-of-state candidates who would need to uproot their life in order to take the offer. But with the U.S. economy nearly at full employment, there aren’t always enough job seekers in a given area to fill all of the open positions there — and insisting on hiring locally could mean keeping the requisition open for far longer than you would like.
In his report “Metro Movers: Where Are Americans Moving for Jobs, And Is It Worth It?” Glassdoor Chief Economist Dr. Andrew Chamberlain identified which job titles were most likely to relocate. If you’re hiring for the following five positions, you should be prepared to source both local and long-distance candidates, and consider covering relocation costs as applicable:
- Chemical Engineer
- Oracle Database Administrator
- ATG Developer
- Industrial Engineer
- Salesforce Developer
If you notice a theme in these positions, you’re correct — “the most geographically mobile jobs are generally engineering and tech roles,” Chamberlain says.
Why is that the case?
“Partly, it’s due to labor demand: employers for these roles are often concentrated in a few big metros and actively hire talent from across the U.S. It’s also due to labor supply: many candidates for tech and engineering roles are relatively young, highly educated and more willing to pick up and move cross country for their career,” Chamberlain adds. “For employers who want to hire experienced candidates from other metros, recruiters may need to compensate with salary premiums or excellent workplace culture.”
[Related: 5 Tips for Filling Hard-to-Fill Positions]
Chamberlain’s report also identified the jobs that were least likely to move outside of a given area. This list included, in part, the following positions:
- Bartender
- Retail Representative
- Delivery Driver
- Receptionist
- Retail Team Member
Luckily for employers hiring for these positions, there are often plenty of candidates available locally.
“Employers for these roles are widely dispersed throughout the U.S. and are not clustered in just a few metros like many specialized tech and engineering jobs,” Chamberlain explains. “Our data shows lower-skilled candidates are just as likely to stay close to home, regardless of a city’s affordability.”
Wondering which other positions tend to require relocation, and which ones don’t? Read the full Metro Movers report here.
