The time taken by employees when making the transition to a new home is costing businesses millions, says a report.
A survey, carried out by property company National Homebuyers, reveals that 35 per cent of employees are taking at least three days sick leave when trying to find a buyer for their existing property.
The effects of the house moves are having a major impact on company bottom lines, especially as the UK’s skills shortage means that many employers are facing an up hill struggle when finding suitable staff to plug the hole.
The report goes on to show that the problem is still apparent when workers turn in. 96 per cent of respondents said that they had spent time at work on the house moving process, a further 20 per cent admitting that they had spent two hours per day dealing with it.
National Homebuyers warn that the problem could get worse as the speed of house sales in slowing down, with the average house sale in December 2004 taking 18 weeks, compared to nine weeks during May.
Julian King, director of Homebuyers, said: “It's particularly worrying to see that this impacts on the UK economy as well as individual property owners. As house prices have levelled off each purchase is taking longer.
“Unfortunately this problem looks set to get worse if the market doesn't pick up."
However, Kim Stoddart, MD of Launchpad Communications, a small PR company, believes the report highlights the poor relationship many employers have with their staff in terms of work flexibility.
She said: “I firmly believe in offering employees flexible working practices. If a member of my staff needed to take time off to deal with their house move I would be able to come to an arrangement with them.
“I think if you have a trusted and open relationship with your employees then they are less likely to `do a sickie` in the first place"
