How HR Tech Can Address Spatial Mismatch and Expand Talent Pools

Spatial mismatch has been a problem for companies located in suburban or remote locations. But by using HR tech, companies can gain a competitive advantage by providing commuter benefits and expanding their talent pools, writes yan McManus, founder, and CEO of SHARE Mobility

Spatial mismatch — when there is considerable distance between available jobs and where the people who need them live — has affected workforces across the globe for decades. In many parts of the US, job sprawl has left many job seekers without access to employment and many employers without qualified hourly workers.

According to Urban InstituteOpens a new window , data from an online job board indicated that there were far more jobs available than job seekers to fill them. If the Census BureauOpens a new window is to be believed, spatial mismatch is often the cause of high unemployment rates in certain areas of the country.  

This mostly affects low-income families, new Americans, refugees, and people without reliable access to transportation. Because of this, job seekers tend not to look too far outside of a certain radius for jobs, knowing that getting there and back will be a hassle. If they get a job far away, the lack of reliable transportation will cause them to leave soon after.  

Many companies don’t know how to address the problem of spatial mismatch. They know the solution is to connect hourly workers with jobs, but how?

That’s where HR tech solutions come in. Using HR tech to plot employee data points can help companies be more strategic in recruiting new workers, filling open jobs, retaining talent, and expanding talent pools. This data will help HR teams (and businesses as a whole) provide commuter benefits to employees, making one of their biggest concerns — reliable transportation — a non-issue. 

Leveraging HR Tech to Provide Commuter Benefits

Up to a certain threshold, transportation benefits are tax-free. Employers provide them, alongside other benefits like healthcare, to retain top talent and show their workforce that they care. Yet, for many companies, commuter benefits start and end by providing bus passes and free parking. So what happens when your employees don’t have access to their cars or even a bus route?

At its core, HR tech enables companies to collect and use employee data to provide more robust commuter benefits. This data helps you unearth the true transportation needs of your talent pool — existing and potential — and create a program that matches those needs. 

Specifically, companies can use this data to determine who needs transportation and the type of transportation that would be most beneficial to them and provide it as a benefit to attract, retain, and reward their talent.  

Companies can use HR tech to analyze employee data regarding their location and access to transportation. From there, HR teams can deduce what public transportation routes are available between their communities and the workplace, as well as the average income of those communities. This helps them when making decisions about providing transportation benefits to current employees and strategizing recruitment efforts. As a result, companies can more accurately scope out their transportation problem. 

Though commuter benefits are becoming more commonplace for competitive workplaces, many HR teams don’t often recognize the ways commuter benefits can help address spatial mismatch. From our perspective, the employee data that feeds HR tech can enable companies to be more targeted in the commuter benefits they provide to new and prospective employees. 

What Data Your HR Department Should Be Tracking To Expand Talent Pools

Hiring managers, HR departments, and recruiters are not allowed to ask potential candidates whether or not they own a car. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) deems a potential employee’s car ownership status “financial information,” which employers are allowed to ask, but not allowed to base hiring decisions on. So, as a standard practice, most hiring managers leave that question out entirely. 

And because they’re not allowed to ask about car ownership, they tend to shy away from asking questions regarding transportation in general. But this often proves to be a missed opportunity for HR departments, as there are other questions they can and should ask to get to the heart of their employees’ transportation issues.

Some useful data for HR teams to gather include:

• Do employees have access to reliable transportation, and if so, what type
• Do employees live close to public transportation — e.g. near a bus route and light rail

Further, based on the location of your employees and the surrounding communities, it would be helpful to gather data regarding: 

• Vehicle ownership in surrounding communities
• Population density of where employees live
• Income levels based on geography

This data will help businesses determine which previously underserved areas are prime for recruitment efforts. If a particular location has a high population density but a low rate of vehicle ownership, for example, you’ll know that introducing commuter benefits will go a long way in attracting new talent to your company in that area. 

This data empowers you to hire people who wouldn’t otherwise be able to answer “yes” to the question of whether or not they have reliable transportation.    

See More: How to Get the Most from Your HR Data & Analytics

Creating Equitable Access to Safe and Reliable Transportation

Creating equitable access to transportation starts with addressing spatial mismatch. Access to reliable transportation isn’t equally available in all neighborhoods. It tends to impact low-income families and communities disproportionately. 

But by using HR tech to offer commuter benefits based on data, your company can start recruiting those that may not have transportation, like new Americans, people without driver’s licenses, or people with physical disabilities. Even more, addressing the transportation issue allows people who previously could not say yes to accept your job offer.

Using Commuter Benefits to Improve Employee Retention

Transportation can be an effective way for companies to retain top talent. By offering commuter benefits based on actual (vs. perceived) needs, your company can stand out from others, as they are unlikely to find these unique benefits elsewhere.

The tax-free benefits will also allow employees to keep more of what they earn, creating another excellent retention tool. The cost of gas, car maintenance, taxis, and transit fare can quickly add up and eat at employee earnings. But employer-initiated commuter benefits can cost up to 75% less than the cost of employee-generated transportation.

By allowing people to uniquely say yes to accepting your job offer and helping them keep more of what they earn, your job becomes harder to say no to. Additionally, it shows your employees that you care about meeting their needs and fostering an environment that reflects that.

See More: A Recipe for Long-term Employee Retention in Quick Service Restaurant

Using HR Tech to Take the Responsibility of Transportation Off Employees’ Hands

The responsibility of commuting has always been put on the individual. But with federally recognized commuter benefits, companies can use HR tech and data to make life easier for their employee base. 

By taking on the complexity of coordinating transportation and automating the behind-the-scenes mechanics of organizing rides to and from work, employers treat commuter benefits like health insurance and show the employee that you are looking out for what can sometimes be their highest cost.

Using HR tech and the resulting data to scope out transportation needs for your workforce is instrumental in attracting and retaining talent, and expanding talent pools. It allows you to hire and work with employees who would have otherwise said no to your job offer due to unreliable transportation. Addressing spatial mismatch can help your company gain a competitive advantage that not many companies can claim.

Which strategies have you implemented to address spatial mismatch in your organization? Let us know on FacebookOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , and LinkedInOpens a new window . We’d love to know!

Image Source: Shutterstock

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