Matt Yglesias over on Slate writes about how people not moving for the sake of employment is a factor in slowing up the economy. He lists many valid reasons for why people won’t or can’t move for the sake of a job. But he misses some.
As is pointed out by some of the comments to the article, moving is expensive. If you own a home it’s even more expensive, verging on impossible if you live in some real estate markets. The real estate markets haven’t recovered enough yet (If they ever do.) so that finding a buyer is all that easy in many places. In addition the expense of purchasing a home such as fees on top of your other moving costs can present a huge barrier to relocation. But I don’t think that’s the biggest reason he missed.
In the days when you could take a job (or find one) and as long as you did your job well you’d be employed for years, if not for life, it made sense to be willing to move for the sake of employment. Those days are gone, though. Who really can or who really wants to relocate only to find themselves in the same predicament when the new employer considers it convenient to shed employees? Anecdotally, I do know someone who moved to accept a job only to find themselves unemployed barely a year later. This of course says nothing about broad trends but I tend to think it’s something that must weigh on the minds of those who might otherwise consider moving for the right job.