Why are relocation benefits so consistently awful?
With my current position, the company offered a full-service relocation coordinator. They covered travel, freight, home sale (commission, in particular), home purchase (taxes and other mortgage fees), vehicle shipment, temporary housing and temporary storage (90 days), miscellaneous costs, and any related income tax. At the time - 10 years ago - I estimated that the value of this package was $35k-$40k after tax dollars. I really didn't have many out-of-pocket expenses to worry about, nor did I have to arrange any services myself.
I've received several offers recently and the relocating packages are comparatively terrible. The best I've received so far is a $50k lump sum "sign on bonus". I have a bigger family and bigger house this time, and I estimate that my relocation expenses will be $55k-$65k after tax dollars. In other words, I not only have to do all the legwork to find and coordinate services and handle my entire relocation, but I'm also losing $25k-$35k of my own money just to come work for this company. It's honestly putting quite a damper on any enthusiasm I might have felt at receiving an offer.
Is this typical these days? Am I expecting too much?
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I think this has to do with how much more common relocation is these days and the market it’s generally designed to attract. New graduates, young professionals, whom in this day and age home ownership is far less common don’t require as much. Also relocation is used an avenue to cheaper labor, as many people don’t have thriving tech industries where they live and are willing to relocate for less money.
I haven't had much luck negotiating relocation. I've been able to negotiate base, bonus, equity. But the relocation package has been less flexible in my experience. This remained true when I listed inadequate relo as grounds for terminating negotiation (not as a threat, but as a simple statement of my position) - the recruiter simply claimed that her hands were tied.
And most of the big tech companies will pay for a full service move along with a cash component on top. Not sure of the overall value. FB is the best I have seen with a full service move + upto 25k in cash (tax covered if you spend on eligible expenses)
And my question wasn't if your TC went up but rather the compensation for the position. So how much more are you making today compared to someone who had the same position 10 years ago?
The reason I ask is, a lot of companies have started paying more and reducing these benefits (e.g. company car, housing allowance, etc. ). It's an overall shift across the world.