There's a great job waiting for you here in Houston, if you can afford the move.
As houses linger on the market and prices continue to fall in many U.S. cities, some recruiters in Houston are wringing their hands.[Carole] Hackett understands better than most because she moved last year from particularly hard-hit Cleveland. It took about six months to sell her house there.
"My intuition is that the housing market crisis in the United States is greatly affecting labor mobility," said Barton Smith, director of the Institute for Regional Forecasting at the University of Houston. "But we may not get a handle on that until the 2010 Census comes out."
One reason Smith suspects something is afoot is that word is getting out that Houston is a job creation machine, yet some openings are going begging.
"In this stage of the countercyclical economy, you would expect mass migration to Houston," said Smith. But the city hasn't been flooded by out-of-state license plates, and one explanation is negative equity -- people owe more on a house back home than it's worth so they're stuck unless they're willing to eat a big loss.
Recruiters and realtors automatically assume everyone is mobile and can easily absorb the costs of a move. Forward thinkers will realize that Houston's economy lags the nation and they will be stung twice.
I recruit mid-level to executive level candidates ($140+) in the energy industry. The national housing situation is making a change in some of my recruiting. Many larger companies have always included home buyouts for certain candidates, depending on level and experience. Now, it's not as automatic and many candidates are limited in their options to pursue opportunities outside of their current geographic area. Rather than spin my wheels on some positions, I often try to recruit candidates that won't involve a move, which includes a home.
I was speaking with my daughter in LosAngeles today and she recieved two job offers last week. She's currently a VP in her company and is being actively recruited by a company in Virigina, which included a home buyout and the other is a Michigan company, which would let her stay in LA and work from home or they will provide an office for her, near her home. Virginia is out, because of her family situation, but she's weighing the Michigan offer. Among the reasons she considering it, is on a good day in LA traffic, she's driving an hour each way and gas today was $4.38.