Quality of Life Factors into Business Location Decision

Communities that can satisfy a company’s quality-of-life concerns — with regard to housing, healthcare, education, recreation, etc. — can make moving a business a pleasure.

Marty Weil (Dec/Jan 09)

Few people relish the thought of moving. Yet, if the new destination promised to improve quality of life, relocating might be a welcome event. While companies seldom base their site-selection decisions solely on quality-of-life issues — housing, schools, healthcare, amenities, crime — these factors do play an increasingly important role in this decision-making process, especially for those dependent on the talents of highly educated workers.

For companies relocating a relatively high proportion of professional talent, quality-of-life issues can even make or break the deal. Quality of life will directly impact the ability of a company to entice people to move with the job; for national recruiting, it will make the difference in whether or not they can attract the best talent.

Relocation advisors, therefore, parse the quality-of-life issue between those companies that are talent-driven, such as software firms, and those that draw labor from a more generic pool, such as assembly line workers. The importance of quality of life is directly related to the type of jobs being moved. Quality of life becomes far less important when relocating a traditional manufacturing plant, warehouse, or back office as opposed to moving a corporate headquarters, R&D facility, or IT center. More here.