Geographical Mobility of Labour

Geographical Mobility of Labour. Refers to the ability of labour to move between different areas to find a job. For example, moving from Manchester to London to find work.

• Relationships. Labour may be tied to a certain area due to family and friends being there. Labour may have relationship roots or networks that are difficult to move away from.
• House prices. Labour may not be able to move to a region where average house prices are high. Workers may be unable to afford a house, obtain a mortgage or rent a property in this expensive region.
• Costs of moving house. Labour may be unable to move between areas because of the financial costs of moving houses. For example, removal trucks will cost money, as will stamp duty and solicitors to sign over deeds.
• Imperfect information. Labour may be unable to move between regions because workers do not have enough information on job availability in different regions. Workers may not be aware that jobs are available in other regions.

• Relocating firms. The government could relocate firms by subsidizing them, so firms move to workers and create jobs for them in the workers’ own areas.
• Building houses. The government could build new houses, or relax planning laws to allow more houses to be built, so that labour can find houses in areas where houses are scarce.
• Relocation subsidies. The government could give relocation or housing subsidies to incentivize labour to move houses. More labour will move between regions because housing costs are lower.
• Job centres. The government could make new and more efficient job centres so that more job information becomes available to workers.