Talent Wants Transit

[93Regina]

'Talent Wants Transit': Companies Near Transportation Gaining The Upper Hand

One of the important criteria in Amazon's high-profile search for a second (and third) corporate headquarters was access to public transportation for the company's employees. The company chose Queens, N.Y., and Arlington, Va., for its new HQ2s — both locations will be near subway stops. And a new study finds Amazon is not alone in this regard; businesses all over the country increasingly want to be near bus and train lines, as they struggle to attract and keep top talent in a tight labor market.

A case in point is McDonald's,

"We actually at one point knew that 97 percent of our folks were
arriving by themselves in a car," says Sheri Malec, director of
workplace solutions for McDonald's. She says the 80-acre parklike
setting worked well for the company through the '70s, '80s and '90s,
but more recently, the remote, suburban location made it difficult for
McDonald's to attract and retain talent -- especially millennials.

"For a job open on my team a couple weeks ago I interviewed a young
woman and she confided in me, 'You know, I really wouldn't have
applied for the job if it had been in Oak Brook, because I don't own a
car,' " Malec says."
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So instead of having 97 percent of McDonald's corporate employees
commuting to work with each of them alone in a car, Malec says, "right
now, we have I think around 90 percent of our folks are arriving in a
nonautomobile fashion."