Relocation Survey Background

In 2005, the Governmentwide Relocation Advisory Board (GRAB) issued a final report outlining 150 recommendations for improving the management and oversight of federal government relocation programs. One important recommendation from the GRAB suggested that agencies with small transfer volumes could gain economies and better pricing by pairing / combining their moves with other agencies or through resource centers. Managing resources through shared services is not new in administering federal programs. And in the employee permanent change of station (PCS) area these shared services are often referred to as Relocation Resource Centers.

Building upon GRAB's recommendation, GSA designed the Relocation Resource Centers initiative. The aim is to aggregate into one location the name, contact information and the services provided by different agencies performing PCS services on a fee basis for other agencies.   An interagency working group, chaired by GSA, developed a questionnaire targeting a broad range of services offered including: home sale, household goods, employee counseling, budget and finance.

The initiative’s overall objectives include:    

To encourage small volume programs to enter into cooperative ventures with high volume agencies resulting in cost efficiencies and increased program effectiveness.

To utilize relocation resource centers as a means of aggregating relocation resources and knowledge in order to maximize efficiency.

To increase the efficiency of relocation resource centers by providing guidance to high volume agencies designed to fine tune processes.

To provide government relocation managers with the information necessary to make informed and sound business decisions.

An interagency working group, chaired by GSA, created a questionnaire for the existing federal Relocation Resource Centers. Learn more about relocation services available at key agencies, including home sale, household goods, employee counseling, budget and finance.