We interviewed 62 older Minnesotans who lost white-collar jobs later in life. Nearly 75% refused to move, and 3 big problems kept them locked in place

Return-to-office mandates and reduced remote-work options have increased the importance of geographic relocation for white-collar employment. Companies are investing more in employee relocation packages to fill positions across regions and states. Interviews with more than 60 older workers who lost white-collar jobs found nearly three-quarters refused to search for work out of state. Key barriers include entrenched family ties (to adult children, grandchildren, aging siblings, and parents), spouses or partners anchored by their own careers or location preferences, and constraints related to the housing market. These obstacles complicate recruitment and retention of late-career talent.

With the pendulum swinging away from remote work and toward return-to-office mandates, working in a new region or state may no longer mean simply logging onto Zoom. As a result, companies are increasingly investing in employee relocations, as the latest Atlas corporate survey reveals. But are these investments enough to keep the hiring pipeline flowing? Keeping a white-collar job or getting a new one may now depend on workers' willingness to uproot their lives and hit the road.

In our new book, American Idle: Late-Career Job Loss in a Neoliberal Era, we interviewed more than 60 older Minnesotans who lost their white-collar jobs later in life, initially interviewing them in the five years following the Great Recession and then again a decade later. We were surprised to learn that nearly three-quarters of those interviewed refused to look for work out of state. Their comments revealed three common barriers to relocation.

First, there are the all-important family ties; as Atlas discovered, this is the top reason why relocation offers are refused. We found older workers anchored in place by a broad range of familial commitments, including to adult children and grandchildren, as well as to aging siblings and parents. There was also the issue of spouses and partners who were embedded in their own careers and understandably reluctant to leave after becoming the sole breadwinner.

Read at Fortune