MOUNT STERLING, Ill. (AP) – Dot Foods had a problem. In early 2020, COVID-19 curbed six decades of almost constant attitudes. As the pandemic subsided and business buzzed again last spring, the company found that potential employees who were less willing to work, or at least warmed up to do work from home, no longer stood in line as they used to.
You can’t work from your living room in your pajamas – dots jobs are personal, physical warehouse work, packing pallets with the special orders the company’s customers need.
But the huge grocery distributor in Mount Sterling with a population of 1,900 supports the post-pandemic phenomenon that is drawing parts of the workforce out of the cities. But with its traditionally cautious local employment pool, Dot is looking further and broader. It costs $ 1,500-3,000 in moving costs to wrap up for western Illinois and a competitive wage at a company that boasts of never having laid off an employee in its 61 years.
Dot Foods, still run by the family of founders Robert “RT” and Dorothy Tracy, is pursuing a portion of the playbook for what some researchers call a “Zoom Town” phenomenon, which is primarily, but not entirely, the Home work is driven by conditions that were enforced by the pandemic. Urban centers no longer dictate the geography of a workplace and some employees deal with endless commutes and “Do you have a minute?” Interruptions for more time at home and a slower, smaller lifestyle.
“Even before the pandemic, there was population distribution related to the post-Great Recession economic boom,” said William Frey, senior fellow of the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program. “But pandemic-induced migration could open the door to new growth opportunities in smaller communities.”
To be eligible for a refund, potential Dot employees must live at least 75 miles from Mount Sterling and within 45 miles of the city. Movement of up to 500 miles (805 kilometers) warrants a check for $ 1,500, an amount that gradually increases to $ 3,000 for anyone traveling more than 3,219 kilometers.
Since its launch in May, 40 of Dot’s 248 employees have qualified for relocation allowance. But there are still 150 new openings, a combination of a revitalized economy and admittedly high inventory turnover. Physical labor isn’t for everyone, said Ashley Ferguson, human resources director for Dot’s Illinois warehouse.
Others find jobs with shorter commutes.
“Referrals have always been our # 1 source for candidates, but we’ve hired more this year …” said Ferguson. “We have decided that we need more strategies and different approaches to help people who want to move to this area.”
It’s far from a unique idea. Cities themselves have joined in the hunt that last winter led Angie’s List pioneers to launch MakeMyMove.com, which collects US locations that incentivize relocation. How about $ 20,000 from Morgantown, West Virginia, $ 15,660 from Augusta, Maine, or $ 12,500 to call Newton, Iowa home?
“We haven’t seen such a massive reorganization of the way people think about places since the Industrial Revolution …” said Evan Hock, co-founder and chief operating officer of MakeMyMove.
Rather than chasing jobs to the cities, working remotely means working from anywhere, Hock said. But money is also driving migration. Respondents to a MakeMyMove survey last summer said their reluctance to put down roots – “Moving is expensive and risky,” Hock said – stunted when there is monetary incentive.
“The same mechanisms that get teleworkers to make movements apply to any type of worker,” said Hock. “Many people move to find a more affordable place, others want to be closer to amenities like nature or have a lot of land.”
For Aimie Logan, it was a combination of things that brought her to Mount Sterling last spring, but one thing is certain: she had never dreamed of living outside of Chicago, where she had spent all of her adult life. Then the pandemic forced the company she worked for to cut her hours. Logan, 37, was lured west by a friend in the area and what looked like Dot’s friendly work environment decided she was ready for a change. And she got it.
“I live in an old farmhouse with a large yard and neighbors, you have to go to them, but it’s great. It’s a welcoming city, ”said Logan during a break from one of her four weekly 10-hour shifts in the freezer. “I never thought I’d leave town. I liked the convenience. I liked the fast pace. Now I have a dollar general and a gas station. I wouldn’t trade it for the world I am in now. “
Mount Sterling Realtors can attest to that. Courtney Newton had inquiries from Arizona, California, and Florida in the past few months. Lance Grady has received calls from the Dallas and St. Louis areas. Some are considering moving closer to their families, at least one has got a job at Dot, and another couple has new freedoms for remote work and shopping for a hometown.
“Most of those I work with don’t want to live in a busier area,” Newton said. “They want to live here because they like the quiet, the more rural subject where everyone knows everyone.”
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