In some instances, the immobility of potential candidates allows the recruiter to become more flexible, he said. Because of technology and emerging values on where work gets done, recruiters, organizations and candidates are able to arrange and negotiate the working situation to allow for candidates to be flexible on their permanent location.

Such a trend has only increased an already steady decline in job seeker relocation in the last 25 years. In 1986, the earliest year tracked in Challenger, Gray & Christmas’ latest job seeker relocation data release, the annual average of job seekers relocating for new positions was 41.8 percent; in 2011, that number dropped to 8.5 percent. In 2009, when the recession arguably hit its crest, the annual average of job seekers relocating for a new job was 13.3 percent, according to the Challenger data.

Bob Damon, a regional president of executive recruitment firm Korn/Ferry International, said recruiting for flexible or virtual work arrangements still has its limits. Depending on the level of the position, candidates might not have the choice to stay where they are, which is more often the case for executive or leadership positions.

“Relocation is becoming a bigger issue than it was five years ago,” he said. The major reason is still the economy, but not necessarily the housing market. People are reluctant to move when organizations don’t necessarily have the “wind in their sails,” Damon said.

Potential executive recruits are much more cautious these days, which means they are less likely to leave an executive role at one company for another — let alone move to a job that would force them to relocate, too.

Another factor for the downward-trending relocation numbers is generational, Damon said. Baby boomers in their heyday were more willing to move for a job, even if it meant relocating or leaving the family behind for certain periods of time. Younger generations are not necessarily willing to disrupt the family structure to accommodate their job.