Toyota, which is relocating major operations to Texas, recently put this very question to 4,000 employees currently based in southern California, Kentucky and New York, and here's what they said.
A whopping 75% said they'd be willing to relocate to the company's 2-million-square-foot headquarters being built in the Dallas area. Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota North America, reportedly finds the positive employee response encouraging. As The Dallas Morning News reports:
"We had a planning number of around 60 percent [participation], so if this holds up, it could mean we would have 3,000 people moving here and another 1,000 new jobs," Lentz said from the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.Whether or not to relocate for a job is a classic employee dilemma, and there's a lot that goes into the decision. What surprises me is that such a high percentage of Toyota's employees seem willing to make the move! Of course, many of them may work in highly-specialized jobs that are hard to find elsewhere, which can make the decision to relocate much easier.Lentz has said the open jobs from the move will probably be filled by workers from North Texas.
However, Toyota tried something different, and really rather brilliant, in rallying employees around the idea.
Two years ago, the company asked about 400 employees to relocate to the Dallas area ahead of everyone else. These corporate explorers were labeled "the pioneers," and they got to test out the greater Dallas area for themselves. They liked it. Word got around, and now 75% of Toyota's U.S. employees are willing to move to the Lone Star State, too. Goodbye, Hotel California and hello, Little Texas!
<Maybe modern corporate relocation requires the old-fashion use of relocation "pioneers"? It's something company leaders who hope to take highly-specialized current employees along for the ride might want to consider. After all, word-of-mouth advertising from the people we know is among the most trusted forms of advertising. Who needs visitors bureau websites when you have Jimmy from accounts payable emailing you from 1,500 miles away to say that the check is in the mail, the weather is beautiful (again...), and his morning commute takes only 30 minutes tops on a bad day?
So load up the wagons -- er, the V Engine trucks -- because we're heading West. Or is it East? It doesn't matter, because our co-workers who are already living there say it's awesome, and they hope to see y'all soon! Just as long as we don't have to become Dallas Cowboys fans, it's all good.**
** I was raised a Seattle Seahawks fan, sorry.
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