Snakes and Ladders: Relocation and the Dual Career Couple

The dual career couple is a contemporary and growing phenomenon in western industrialised nations. There are numerous human resource management issues associated with the dual career couple. The focus of this paper is on just one of these issues — employee relocation. The research reported here found that dual career employees are concerned about their partner's career prospects and unless current career levels can be maintained for the trailing partner, organisations may experience relocation resistance. Of specific interest in the Australian context is that organisations with operations in country areas may be particularly affected, since country areas are less likely to offer desirable career opportunities for trailing partners. Further, organisational mobility expectations frequently force couples to decide which partner's career will take precedence. Historically it has been the male partner's career, even in dual career relationships. The findings from this study suggest that such decisions are becoming more complex, with couples placing greater emphasis on economic and quality of life concerns. Traditionally, organisations have relied on employee mobility as a career development strategy. However, greater emphasis on long-term human resource planning is advocated to facilitate career development strategies which are less reliant on geographical relocation. Further, if organisations are to retain their dual career employees, relocation assistance packages may need re-assessment to reflect the needs of those employees who are unwilling to sacrifice their partners' careers for the sake of their own.