When it comes to employee relocations, timing is everything. While most moves happen during the summer months, encouraging employees to move in the Fall can benefit not only your workforce but also your overall mobility program. With reduced demand and a smoother moving process, fall offers a window of opportunity that’s often overlooked.
Here are five reasons to consider planning your employee relocation in Fall rather than peak season:
If you’re working with a tight budget, planning your move during the fall rather than the summer may help cut costs. There’s typically less demand for moving during the fall or winter months. Lower demand often means more competitive rates from moving companies, housing providers, and even temporary accommodations. These savings help stretch your mobility budget further while reducing out-of-pocket expenses for employees.
May to September is considered the peak season for moving. Many families and individuals plan their moves during the summer because of the pleasant weather. The school year also ends at the end of May, so you don’t need to worry about the move disrupting the school year.
However, during peak season, employees often face challenges securing preferred moving dates. Professional movers typically have more availability for fall relocations,making it easier to align moving timelines with onboarding schedules, assignment start dates, and family needs. Many experts also contend that children have an easier time making new friends and adapting to their new school if the move takes place during the school year, rather than over the Summer.
Summer moves can be unbearable for people living in warm-weather states like Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada. Unlike the high heat of summer or the ice and snow of winter, fall typically provides moderate weather in much of North America. This creates safer, more efficient moving conditions and a less stressful experience for relocating employees and their families.
Just as moving services are in high demand during peak Summer season, so is housing. So if your employees decided to move during the Fall season instead, they’ll have better purchase and rental options due to reduced competition and the added benefit of lower prices due to motivated sellers and landlords.
An employee relocation in the fall ensures your team can get all moved in before the holiday season and the new year. This smoother transition helps minimize stress and supports productivity, allowing employees to start their new roles on stronger footing.
While mobility management in autumn provides many advantages for employers and employees, there are also a few challenges to consider before you start the planning process. The weather in some states can be unpredictable. While fall is pleasant in California, Texas, and Arizona, states in the Pacific Northwest and the South typically experience rainy autumns. This can be hazardous for movers as they load and unload belongings from the moving truck.
Depending on your timeline and how quickly your employees can secure housing, the moving process may end up running through the holiday season. This can cause unwanted stress for your employees and make the holiday season less enjoyable.
Before committing to employee relocations in the fall, take some time to compare the pros and cons to ensure this is the right time of year for your team to move.
Encouraging fall relocations not only creates better employee experience but also helps protect budgets, reduce risks, and streamline program execution. By steering employees toward off-peak timing, mobility managers can deliver cost savings, increase satisfaction, and ensure smoother transitions.
At Allied Van Lines, we’ve supported mobility managers and their employees for more than 95 years, helping corporations move with confidence, no matter the season.
Contact us today to explore how Allied Van Lines can support your workforce mobility strategy.
Need more mobility manager tips? Here’s a quick look at frequently asked questions about moves and corporate relocations during fall.
The most popular time of the year to relocate is between May and September. This is considered the peak season for moving. If you have some flexibility, a fall relocation between mid-September and November can also be a good time to move.
As global mobility trends continue to shape the future of mobility management, you'll find there are more flexible solutions for corporate relocations. More mobility management companies are also using technology to help streamline relocations for corporations and their employees, helping make the process more efficient for everyone involved.
End-to-end move management tools, pre-move planning assessments, inventory tracking, and pre-made moving timelines are tools that can help your team stay organized throughout the corporate move.
One seasonal relocation benefit of relocating during the Fall is that there is less demand which generally results in lower housing costs and non-peak pricing for other relocation-related services.
Peak Season challenges and Non-Peak Season benefits generally apply to cross-border moves as well. Navigating customs, sourcing shipment containers, and finding reliable movers to assist with the transportation are the biggest challenges with cross-border relocations. As one of the largest global movers in the industry, these are tasks that the Allied Van Lines can help you and your team with.
