Housing Hurts Recruiting in Nothern New Jersey

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You grew up in Northern New Jersey, went off to school and were fairly successful. Lived in Alpharetta, Georgia in your 3,500 square foot house, but wanted someday to get back to ‘Jersey’.  So you put your name in the hat for a job, got it, and then looked to relocate. On the street you grew up on, the modest Cape Cod house Mom and Dad bought for $52,500 in 1967 is now on the market for $650,000. The same house you are living in down in Georgia is over a million in your home town. The only home you can afford is in a neighborhood that you would not want your kids attending school in. So you decide to stay in Georgia and visit New Jersey once a year.

This scenerio is worrying businesses in New Jersey. They are fearful that they will be unable to attract talent because housing costs are so high. Whie  potential employees are afraid that they will have to lower their standard of living to live there.

The issue was addressed  at the Sixth Annual Morris Summit sponsored by Morris Tomorrow, which drew over 125 people to the Meadow Wood Manor to discuss housing affordability and its impact on the lives of county residents.

Odds are these businesses are going to have to relocate out of the region when the staffing issues become too extreme. A great example of this is when UPS moved out of Stamford, Conneticut to Atlanta, Georgia so that their employees could have a better quality of life.