布倫達·麥克唐納賣的是食物，不是酒店房間。但這并沒有阻止馬里蘭州西部四家餐館的老板在附近修理一家汽車旅館，這樣她的員工就有地方住了。

　　加勒特縣的房價在過去一年中上漲了8.5%，所以麥克唐奈看到了她丈夫在附近一處閑置的房產的機會。她重新裝修了一組房間，有時每月收費幾百美元，或者干脆讓餐館員工免費住在那里。結果是:她的員工可以保住工作，否則他們可能會因為買不起房而拒絕工作。

　　“人們會問，‘布倫達，我能把房子租一個月嗎?我給你800美元，’”麥克唐納說。“我可以賺錢。但我說，‘不，這是給員工的。’”

　　房租終于降溫了。看看你所在地區的物價變化了多少。

　　在全國各地，像麥克唐奈這樣的雇主發現自己被夾在了火熱的房地產市場和就業市場之間。在俄勒岡州，農村學區一直困惑于如何為教師提供足夠的住房。在亞利桑那州的農村地區，醫院將房間出租給工作人員。在馬薩諸塞州，該州為科德角的暑期工人提供了臨時住房。

　　其結果是兩大經濟支柱之間的拉鋸戰。在小規模的交易中，這些交易只是企業主和員工在一對一的協議中解決問題。但是，房地產市場引發的潛在緊張可能會永久地影響人們如何決定住在哪里，從事什么工作，以及經濟是否對他們有利。

　　沒有人認為住房短缺足以破壞勞動力市場的增長勢頭。畢竟，雇主已經連續34個月增加了員工，而就業市場仍在動蕩。但一些經濟學家仍然擔心該國住房挑戰的連鎖反應。在最需要住房的地方建造足夠多的住房之前，更多的公司將不得不通過提高工資、遠程工作選擇或其他福利來發揮創意，以確保員工能找到居住的地方。

　　房地產市場的衰退已經結束

　　波士頓聯邦儲備銀行(Federal Reserve Bank of Boston)行長蘇珊·柯林斯(Susan Collins)說，她聽說有些公司提供了工作機會，但后來卻因為找不到地方住而把這些候選人解雇了。在她所在的從緬因州延伸到康涅狄格州的地區，一些雇主告訴她，他們已經開始為那些別無選擇只能住在很遠的地方的工人提供公共汽車或其他交通工具。

　　“我認為住房就像兒童保育，”柯林斯在8月底對《華盛頓郵報》說。“有各種各樣的原因讓我們擔心住房供應問題，從負擔得起的住房到高昂的房價。這是關鍵問題之一。”

　　住房問題是一些人仍然想要遠程工作的首要原因。ZipRecruiter的首席經濟學家朱莉婭·波拉克(Julia Pollak)說，她看到了一種轉變，從大流行初期開始，人們基本上想呆在家里，因為他們擔心感染新冠病毒。現在，通勤成本、汽油價格和租金往往是人們最關心的問題。

　　波拉克說，許多員工在開始找工作時也會假設自己愿意跳槽。但歸根結底，搬遷的障礙往往會阻礙你。

　　她說:“愿意搬遷的人數與成功完成工作搬遷的實際人數之間的差距已經擴大。”“從租金成本和庫存水平的數據可以清楚地看出，為什么可能會出現這種情況。”

　　Workers cash in on a new flexibility: Leaving the office after a few hours

　　Denise Moriguchi knows that the local housing market weighs on her staff in Seattle. The chief executive of Uwajimaya, a chain of Asian grocery stores, said many of her employees commute an hour by public bus, have multiple roommates or rent a couch rather than a whole room, because housing costs in the area are so high. Whenever Moriguchi considers adding new store locations, she considers the general affordability in the area and the availability of public transit, in case she’d have a hard time finding employees who live nearby.

　　Earlier this year, Moriguchi was hiring a new executive from Georgia. As part of a relocation package, her company covered moving costs, airfare and other expenses to help offset differences in cost of living. In another instance, when Moriguchi was hiring for a different role, the recruiting firm she was using said it would focus on potential candidates who already lived in high-cost places.

　　“The search firm we were working with said, ‘Yeah, we’ll look locally and on the West Coast,’” Moriguchi said. “They tended not to focus as much on the Midwest because of cost of living.”

　　Travel nursing has helped Sierra Levin live and work across the country, from California to Texas to Massachusetts. But when she was trying to line up a short-term contract at a hospital in Newark this year, she had a harder time than usual finding somewhere to live. Levin said it was the first time she’d struggled to find housing in her five years on the job.

　　Since travel nurses generally take contracts for a few months at a time, Levin was looking for a furnished, month-to-month rental. She initially looked in Jersey City but was quoted $2,000, minimum, for one bedroom in a group house. She ended up renting one room in a five-bedroom house in nearby Montclair for $1,700 — but nailed that lease down only three days before starting work.

　　“I don’t want more than one paycheck to go to rent,” Levin said. “That doesn’t make sense, and that’s not sustainable.”

　　Carey Martin is a co-founder of Custom Hiring Solutions, a national recruiting firm based in Phoenix that focuses on small businesses. Martin said she’s seen the job market change plenty over the past 20 years.

　　But in just the last two years, housing is increasingly pricing candidates out of job searches — even if they’re looking for short-term rentals for temporary jobs.

　　Martin estimates that offers don’t work out more than half the time, largely because of housing issues. And even when they do, Martin said, she’s never seen so many professionals in mid-level management roles, earning $60,000 or $75,000 per year, who still need roommates to make it work.

　　“We have had employers come to us and say: ‘At this point, we will do whatever we have to. If we have to pay for their temporary housing as a kind of bonus, we’ll work something unique out like that,’” Martin said. “Those are for the leadership positions and executives. For staff, and even mid-level management, the deals usually fall apart.”