Relocation Packages in Tech. Industry Insights

The world is becoming more global, and so is Relocate.me. With companies showing an ever-increasing trend in hiring international talent, 'relocation’ has become the talk of the town.

Whether you’ve been in this situation or even if you’ve not, you know how stressful and uncertain relocation appears to be. Visa and/or residence permit issues, flight tickets, finding an apartment, rental costs, security deposits, etc., the list of tasks that add to the relocation stress seems to be unending. The more information employees have before moving, the fewer 'surprises' and frustrations which arise during the process.

A lot of companies hiring staff from abroad face a number of challenges too. One of the questions that often arises is,

'What should a relocation package include?'

We decided to provide transparent country information (taxes, cost of living, visa requirements, etc.), as well as detailed descriptions of the relocation packages offered.

Here's what inspired us to come up with this piece

Though it’s pretty common for tech companies to draw talent from abroad, there are very few of them who are ready to reveal their relocation packages.

We constantly receive questions from recruiters and hiring managers:

• What’s the minimum relocation assistance required?
• Should startups provide relo packages?
• What relocation perks do other tech companies offer to their prospective foreign employees?

Our vision is to promote the concept of relocation packages as a critical feature of the hiring policies of any technology companies wishing to hire workforce from abroad. 

Partly due to the lack of public information about components of a (competitive) relocation package, most of the companies have questions/doubts. We’re here to fix this right away.

Let’s look at some critical numbers

We analyzed relocation packages offered by 250 technology companies, both SMBs and tech giants, from 20 different countries: The Netherlands, Germany, Spain, The United Kingdom, Italy, Belgium, Austria, France, Croatia, Ukraine, Estonia, Denmark, Singapore, China, Australia, Canada, the USA, South Africa, Indonesia, and even Mauritius. Each of these companies advertised their tech jobs at Relocate.me at least once.

All in all, 1,000 tech job vacancies — software engineer jobs, designer positions, managerial and principal roles — were reviewed.

Understanding the difference between Basic and Advanced relocation packages

To make it easier for employers to understand the difference, we categorized all relo packages under two types of packages — Basic and Advanced. Let’s dive a little deeper and see what each type of relocation assistance has in store for the employees.

Basic Relocation Packages

Startups and emerging companies are not always able to afford a comprehensive set of relocation perks when it comes to tech jobs. Consequently, they are more likely to offer their relocating employees a Basic Relocation Package. These types of packages generally cover two kinds of support during the move:

Visa/Paperwork

• Work visa sponsorship
• Help in filling out documents
• Support for the tax benefits application process (e.g. 30% ruling)
• Assistance in getting a residence permit

Flight Tickets

• The company pays for a one-way ticket for an employee
• Some companies also pay the ticket cost for the employee’s entire family

However, it is important to note that small/young companies can and do provide great, non-material support (useful tips and advice, a word of encouragement at the right time), which is also very important.

Advanced Relocation Packages

In addition to the basic set of relocation perks, many companies strive to provide their foreign workers with:

On-Site Assistance

• Adaptation tips (things such as insurance needs, opening a bank account, etc.)
• Language courses
• A free plane ticket back home (once during the first year of employment)

Housing Support

• Free assistance with finding an apartment
• Reimbursement costs for short-term rental until permanent housing is finalized
• Coverage of real-estate agent fees
• Payment of a rental deposit (amount might be later deducted from the employee’s salary)

Monetary Compensation/Financial Aid

• A sign-up bonus
• Coverage of moving expenses (e.g. furniture, home appliances, etc.)

We were delighted to see the number of companies offering advanced relocation assistance.

95% of the employers listed on the Relocate.me website offer this package, no matter what kind of job role they’re hiring for. The remaining 5% (13 out of 250 listed companies) covers only basic expenses such as visa/paperwork and flight tickets.

Keep reading; you've almost reached the most captivating part of this article

So, you’ve finally landed on the most interesting section of this article.

We analyzed our database of 1,000 IT job vacancies over the last 12 months to find out the most widespread relocation perks offered by tech companies to international candidates.

Visa sponsorship and Flight tickets clearly emerged as the winners. The chart above also vividly demonstrates that only a small percentage of the companies (probably the ones that consider applicants from the EU) are not ready to deal with visa issues.

We also noticed that Adaptation tips are offered as often as the coverage of flight. Even we're thinking about including them in the basic relocation package. Wondering what “Adaptation tips” mean? These include all intangible benefits and human help. Many Relocate.me users stress the importance of such support as one of the keys to successful settling in a new country.

Does your relocation package correspond to the industry standards?

It’s time to reveal the most popular combination of relocation perks in the tech industry.

Based on all the data presented above, we found that 50% of the companies offer the following set of relocation perks: work visa sponsorship, flight tickets, adaptation tips, and housing support. The latter can include providing temporary lodgings, assistance with finding a long-term rental apartment, or coverage of real-estate agent fees.

Final thoughts

As an employer, it’s completely up to you to decide what you will and what you won’t offer in terms of relocation support. The relocation package you offer generally depends on the size of your company, its financial performance, and many other factors. However, if you want the employee to be happy, productive, and committed to the goals of your company from day one, make sure you provide proper relocation benefits. It does not necessarily have to cost a lot. Absolutely not.

Based on a recent survey of the Relocate.me users, we can confidently say that there’s a rising demand for non-financial assistance (settling in a new country). But we’ll be covering that in a separate blog post soon. Stay tuned for more information.

P.S. If you're open to hiring international tech talent, you can reach over 100 nationalities by advertising your IT jobs at Relocate.me. Click here to learn more.