\n
![](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/GettyImages-1422164284-e1711136404948.jpeg?w=2048\")
<\/p>\n [ad_1]
\n<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an all-time terrible<\/a> moment in history to be looking to buy a house. But for bosses, that means it\u2019s an all-time opportune moment to help workers out\u2014and if you\u2019re looking for ways of sweetening a return-to-office deal<\/a>, this might be the ticket.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to a January 2024 survey<\/a> of over 1,000 workers and bosses by insurance firm JW Surety Bonds, nearly half (47%) of respondents said they\u2019d return to their offices if their company offered them housing benefits.\u00a0<\/p>\n Plus, nearly 7 in 10 (69%) are so desperate for employer-sponsored housing benefits, they said they\u2019d change a job\u2014or even their whole career path\u2014in order to work at a firm that offers them. That\u2019s an indictment of the housing market, to be sure, but it\u2019s also a statement of just how much an office return is still used as a bargaining chip<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Housing is the perennial white whale<\/a>, given how many buyers are bereft at the dearth of affordable options<\/a>. No wonder so many workers are willing to make drastic changes in order to secure any company-sponsored help they can get. Nearly half of workers would even be open to living in a \u201ccompany town,\u201d JW Surety Bonds found, where most of their neighbors would be coworkers and managers.\u00a0<\/p>\n More than 2 in 5 of respondents told JW Surety Bonds they\u2019d sacrifice up to 15 days of vacation time in order to get help with home buying costs; almost a third said they\u2019d even rather get housing help than a raise\u2014and that\u2019s during a historic cost of living crisis<\/a> when most salaries are barely keeping pace with inflation at all.<\/p>\n Some firms are already getting in on the action. A quarter of employer respondents told JW Surety Bonds they\u2019ll consider offering housing benefits this year\u2014an average of just over $6,000 per worker\u2014specifically as a means of improving mental wellbeing, and of course, a tool for luring workers back to their desks.<\/p>\n The housing crisis can\u2019t quite be separated from the remote-work revolution<\/a>. Over the past few years, as swaths of workers gradually moved farther and farther away from their offices<\/a>, \u201cdonut cities\u201d have begun to develop around major metro areas. Those are defined as a sizable increase in population<\/a> in suburbs within commuting distance of downtowns, where workers can ideally reap the benefits of extra space without racking up too far a commute.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHybrid working is radically reshaping the geography of work,\u201d Mark Dixon, CEO of IWG said in a recent statement<\/a>. \u201cSuburbs [and] rural communities everywhere are being revitalized and this trend will continue to accelerate over the coming years.\u201d<\/p>\n Indeed, such benefits would be a game changer for super commuters, a handful of whom told Fortune <\/em>last year<\/a> that a combination of housing unaffordability and hybrid work has pushed them over two hours door-to-door from their employers. Among employees hired last year, the average distance from home to work is 35 miles\u2014up from 10 miles in 2019\u2014per a recent Stanford study<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n As with benefits like transit reimbursement, asynchronous work and ample paid time off, housing benefits\u2014unsurprisingly\u2014improve morale<\/a>. Nearly 4 in 5 (77%) workers who have long received housing-assistance perks from their employers reported high job satisfaction to JW Surety Bonds. They also reported improved overall well-being and productivity, which should be companies\u2019 goals all along. For those whose companies don\u2019t offer the benefit, that percentage reporting high satisfaction fell to 60%.\u00a0<\/p>\n But despite the evidence, most companies remain slow on the uptake. Just 13% of respondents told JW Surety Bonds they\u2019re receiving housing assistance of any kind from their employer. It\u2019s high time for them to get on board, if they\u2019re hoping to retain talent<\/a> down the line.<\/p>\n Many employees relocated during the pandemic, LynnAnn Brewer, an executive advisor at HR consultancy McLean & Company, recently told Fortune\u2019s<\/em><\/a> Sydney Lake, and return-to-office mandates<\/a> have thrown a wrench in many of their plans. \u201cLeaders must practice empathy and flexibility throughout the return process to mitigate the risks of losing talent or damaging employee engagement and employer reputation.\u201d<\/p>\n An extra few thousand bucks wouldn\u2019t hurt, either.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nFlexible work\u2019s impact on housing<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Subscribe to the CEO Daily newsletter to get the CEO perspective on the biggest headlines in business. Sign up<\/a> for free.<\/div>\n