Archive for the ‘Global Relocation’ Category

Tips on Relocating for a New Job

Saturday, October 8th, 2011

Getting offered a new job in a new place can be an exciting prospect. It can also, however, be a pain if you’ve planted your roots at your current home. Relocating to a new place for a job should not necessarily be an automatic decision. It’s a good idea to weigh your options and develop a financial profile for each option so that you can make the right choice. Personal relationships and roots within the community should also be important things to consider when deciding whether to move or not. No matter how financially wise a move to a new job might be, it might not be worth it if you and your family find themselves alone and unhappy in your new home.

There are several factors that will effect whether or not a move for a new job is a financially wise decision. The primary cost calculation will be between your new salary and the cost of living of your new home. For example, you may find that getting a 20% raise will not mean much if the cost of living goes up by 50% or more. Likewise, you may find that taking a pay cut may be worth it if you are moving to a place that has a drastically lower cost of living. Other things to consider are how desirable the new job is to you personally and whether you need to take any type of employment that’s available just to make ends meet.

If you’ve ultimately decided to go ahead with the move there are a couple of things you can do to make the whole process a lot easier. First, using a relocation service to coordinate the transportation of your household goods can save you a lot of money and time. They can also arrange it so that you can have your vehicle transported to your new location if you are choosing not to drive it. This is great for people who need to move quickly for their job and don’t have the time to drive to their new home.

What to Take and Leave Behind When Moving

Wednesday, September 7th, 2011

Some people think that it is necessary to take everything they own with them when they move, but sometimes there are things better left behind. It’s a good idea to take a complete inventory of all your items before you move in order to decide what is best to bring and what is best to sell or just throw away. There are several key aspects of an item to consider before you decide whether or not to bring it: size, weight, age, utility, frequency of use and adaptability to your new home. If you take into account all of these factors you will end up saving money in the long run and filling your new home will only your most important items.

Bedding – If you have been living in the same home for a long time, you may have very old mattresses and framing. Moving may be a good opportunity to get rid of the old mattress and replace it with a more comfortable one at your new home. It will also save valuable space in a truck.

Furniture – How much to you like your current couch, dining room table, dressers and chairs. These types of items take up a lot of space and weight on a truck. If you are planning on getting a new item when you arrive at your new home, it is probably a better idea to leave the old one behind by selling it or giving it away to charity.

Garage and Storage Junk – We aren’t all like the people in the show Hoarders, but most Americans are guilty of keeping far too much junk in their garage or storage units. Moving is a good opportunity to get rid of all that stuff you don’t need or haven’t used in a long time. Moving a lot of junk across the country can end up costing a lot more than what any of it is worth.

Appliances – Many appliances, especially those in the kitchen, should probably not be moved. But there are things like washers, dryers, outdoor refrigerators and freezers and barbeques that you may or may not want to consider moving. There are several questions you need to ask. Do I use the appliance often? Am I looking to upgrade? Is the space it takes up in the truck worth it?

Household Accessories – Most of us just have lots of stuff sitting around the house, some it useful and some of it that just takes up space. Take an inventory of all the little things in the house and make sure that you are not bringing a bunch of stuff that will just end up sitting in boxes. Doing this will save money on moving and make your new house less cluttered.

Advantages to Using a Global Relocation Service

Thursday, August 11th, 2011

The economies of the world are now more interconnected than ever. Businesses and individuals now regularly move not only within their own country, but around the world. The reasons for this are numerous, from reducing costs and tax burdens to finding new opportunities for growth. Many manufacturing companies are relocating their operations to East Asia and India while professionals from developing countries find themselves moving to the west to find jobs.

Using a global relocation service like Unipack makes the physical relocation of a company or family seamless and stress free. Most transportation companies can only move cargo within a single nation or between major international hubs. This means that, in order to relocate overseas, coordination between many different transportation services and government bureaucracies needs to take place. For someone not experienced with the process, this can be a nightmare. A global relocation service can take care of all the necessary details.

When using a global relocation service like Unipack, one needs to only provide the necessary information and the rest is taken care of. Customs forms, bills of lading, import/export documentation and transfer requests are all handled, providing a door-to-door service that is stress free. By using a service like this, a global relocation customer can concentrate on the more important issues of moving like training and adapting to a new environment.

Adjusting to a New Location

Tuesday, August 9th, 2011

The logistics of moving to a new location can be challenging, but it can be even a greater challenge to adapt socially. There are many global relocation companies, like Unipack, that make the physical transport of cargo and goods a breeze. But once everything is moved and settled to your new location, how do you adapt to the new conditions? The amount of changes a new environment brings can sometimes be overwhelming.

It is important to immerse yourself in whatever new location you have moved to. Successful adaptation to any new place depends upon the ability to communicate with the locals and participate in their culture. Many recent transports can find themselves lost in a new place, especially if that place is a foreign country with a different language. By interacting with the locals and participating in local activities, a recent re-locator can quickly adapt to the new conditions by learning the language and normal social conventions of the area.

There’s many ways that this can be accomplished. Bars and restaurants are excellent avenues for immersion, as they are places with lots of local residents and sometimes other outsiders that may have advice on adapting to a new place. Street fairs and festivals also provide opportunities to interact with locals and get to know how the community operates. If you are with your family, going to functions that involve other people with spouses and children can offer easy opportunities to meet new friends. Don’t be afraid to explore your new home to its fullest, you may be surprised how enriching it can be.

Global Relocation Services: Your Way

Wednesday, July 27th, 2011

Most companies bear the expenses of relocating their new employees or existing ones to new international locations. This is normally a package when employing people for their overseas branches or people from other countries for work in the United States. People, who relocate to a foreign country, do so mostly because their job requires them to do so. If the company does not have an existing agent who helps them with their moving, then you should look for and hire one well in advance so that all the preliminary requirements could be done in an orderly manner and not as a last minute rush.

Get an international moving service to relocate you

There are not many international companies who have branches all over the world to help you to move. So for global relocation you will have to do some research and find the appropriate firm to get your relocation done without any problems, both for physically moving and for all the legalities that are involved. This company should have good recommendations and also a high quality of work for international moving. They should be capable of handling all the customs issues and get you stuff safely to the new country without loosing anything or damaging it either.

Packing for international moving

There is a special way to pack for international moving and the international movers will know how to handle this. They will even let you know the best way to send the stuff to the new destination. This will have to be done either by air freight or sea. There will be issues with customs checks that will have to be handled and also the cost of shipping the goods.

Facts and Industry Statistics: Part One

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

U.S. domestic transfers: Relocation statistics

Worldwide ERC members represent the large majority of organizations that manage significant relocation programs. 2009 U.S. domestic relocation statistics: 

  • $25 Billion: amount spent annually in U.S. on corporate relocation
  • $15 Billion: amount spent annually in U.S. on corporate relocation by Worldwide ERC® member corporations
  • $16,110,641: average annual amount each company spends to transfer its employees.
  • 287,000: annual number of U.S. domestic transfers from Worldwide ERC® member companies
  • Of the 287,000, approximately 1/3 are new hires (94,710) and 2/3 are current employees (192,290).
  • Of the 287,000, approximately 50% are homeowners and 50% are renters.

Costs of U.S. domestic transfers*:

Current Employee Homeowner          $90,017
New Hire Homeowner                       $66,610
Current Employee Renter                  $20,750
New Hire Renter                              $17,877
Based on 2009 data

U.S. domestic transfers: Cost of shipping household goods:

2009 – $11,900

2007 – $11,680
2006 – $10,342
2005 – $9,514
2004 – $10,387
2003 – $9,745
2002 – $9,658

These costs vary by family size (bigger families typically have more household good to move) and homeowner status (homeowners typically have more household goods vs. renters).

Survey spots more Global Relocation Trends…

Sunday, July 17th, 2011

The latest global relocation trends survey report from Brookfield GRS makes interesting reading for those managing assignees in Brazil, China, India or Russia. The following extracts are taken from it.

When asked to identify the three countries that were emerging as new assignment locations, 15% of respondents ranked China as the most common new destination, followed by India (13%), and Russia (6%). These three countries also were the top three destinations in last year’s report. Furthermore, with only one exception in the history of this survey (when it was ranked in second place), China always has been the most commonly cited emerging destination.
When asked which three countries produced the greatest assignment difficulties for international assignment programme managers, China was cited by 23% of respondents, followed by India (15%), Russia (10%), the US (6%), and Brazil (5%). China, India, Brazil and the US have been among the top six destinations that presented the greatest challenges to program managers since the 2003/4 report, and China has always been cited as the most challenging.
When asked which three countries produced the greatest assignment difficulties for expatriates, China was cited by 20% of respondents, followed by India (15%), Russia (9%), Brazil (4%), and the US (3%). For the fourth consecutive year, the US has appeared on this listing as a leading ‘challenge’ destination, a designation it never held before the 2003/4 report. China, India, and Japan always have been among the top seven destinations that presented the greatest assignment challenges. Finally, with one exception (when it was ranked in second place), China has always been cited as the most challenging destination for expatriates).

Top of the Spots: Global Relocation Trends

Friday, July 15th, 2011

Unipack relocates businesses to countries all over the world. As a result, the company is well placed to monitor global relocation trends among its clients and spot the top European and non-European destinations for companies with relocating employees. So which countries are top of the spots for 2010?

Top 10 Non European Destinations 2010

1. (1-) USA
2. (2-) CHINA
3. (4>) SINGAPORE
4. (8>) BRAZIL
5. (7>) CANADA
6. (3<) AUSTRALIA
7. (5<) UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
8. (6<) INDIA
9. (9-) JAPAN
10. (12>) SOUTH KOREA

Top 10 European Destinations 2010

1. (3>) GERMANY
2. (1<) UNITED KINGDOM
3. (2<) FRANCE
4. (4-) SWITZERLAND
5. (5) SPAIN
6. (7>) BELGIUM
7. (6<) RUSSIA
8. (8-) NETHERLANDS
9. (9-) HUNGARY
10. (14>) ITALY
*Source ISIS Interdean statistics
( ) position during previous year

– no change
> gained
< dropped

For more information on global relocation and all of the hot spots this year, visit: https://www.unipack.net/

Three Factors for Relocation Service Providers

Thursday, June 30th, 2011

Three key factors to consider when you select relocation service providers are:

1. Metrics
2. Performance
3. Transparency

Metrics: The results of a successful relocation process should be measurable. Unipack offers a web-based knowledge management solution, allowing authorized personnel in any department of your company to generate reports at any time.

Performance: As an independent Relocation Management Company, the performance of Unipack’s relocation service providers—not corporate relationships—drives use. We look out for our clients: our supply chain is designed for service and value. We perform thousands of relocations annually, so we have access to, and experience with, the best relocation service providers in the field.

Transparency: As we select the best relocation service providers for your needs, we are open and honest about our process. While we may derive part of our income from some of our relocation service providers, our primary focus is getting you the best service providers offering the best value available in their class.

Global Relocation Logisitics

Monday, June 27th, 2011

The logistics of relocation are rarely easy for the employees being relocated, or for the HR managers organizing the relocation process. Your choice in a relocation management company—along with the service providers that company selects to assist with the relocation makes a tremendous difference.

When shopping for relocation service providers, you want a company whose relocation services make the move as stress-free as possible. A successful relocation process should:

* Aid in your company’s recruiting and retention initiatives.
* Make the relocation process low-stress for your company and the transferees
* Get transferees fully engaged, and focused on their new job, sooner.
* Help maintain productivity of the HR employees and other staff involved in the relocation process.
* Keep relocation costs down.
* Be consistent across your company, while offering flexibility to keep transferees satisfied.