Ever since flexibility became the new norm in a post-pandemic era, work-life balance has been in the control of the employee. As a result, demand for jobs that offer remote work has dramatically increased. According to data found by LinkedIn UK, paid job advertisements posted on their platform that promoted remote work attracted more than a fifth of all job applications. The reasons behind this vary but one of the key driving factors making these job vacancies more desirable is the belief that an element of flexible working improves the quality of life.
The top two reasons 8 in 10 people say that remote working has positively impacted their lives:
- Avoiding the commute to work. This is seen as the top benefit with 80% of people rating this as their top reason
- A close second is the ability to manage home & social responsibilities. 70% of women are likely to rate this as one of their top reasons compared to 60% of men (make of that what you will)
But supply doesn’t meet demand
Even though the demand has reached a never-before-seen height, there is a wide gap between the opportunities available and demand. LinkedIn shows that less than 20% of all job roles advertised on their platform include remote working, but that doesn’t mean the effect of the Pandemic hasn’t been enough to completely change the working landscape.
Employees have indicated that remote working enables a feeling of control and reconnection to things that are most important to them and so the demand continues to rise. It’s easy to understand why people think we’ll never go back to the old-school working model when…
The rising demand for remote work has had an almost permanent impact on the workplace:
- Pre-Pandemic, 37% of London’s workforce said they worked at least one day a week remotely (on average) and that has since risen to 75%
- 6 in 10 London Workers say they have now adopted a ‘hybrid working’ model (a flexible approach that allows employees to split their time between working in the office fewer than five days a week and working from home at least one day a week)
- 3 in 4 people believe we’ll never go back to the old-school way of working
So, to answer the question
Yes, the demand is high and it is extremely likely that it is here to stay. But there is a catch and there are caveats. Since the demand is so high and opportunities are scarce, employers are taking advantage of the fact that there are fewer businesses offering remote work as one of their employee benefits. As a result, remote working roles are being offered for less money than what they’d get for being in the office. In other words, a trend (a small trend but a rising one nonetheless) is a trade-off between more time granted out of the office and a lower salary.
Naturally, people aren’t keen on being forced back into the office, but they’re not willing to sacrifice lower pay either:
- Only 16% of London workers are happy about the request to work more days in the office. 58% have negative feelings about it, while the remainder has little to no regard for the matter.
- The majority of London workers (66%) lean towards disagreeing with the 18% of employers being able to pay their remote workers less than those in the office.
- There are even people who actively go to the office every day who reject the idea (42%) than support it (32%)
Remote working is becoming the new norm but as of right now opportunities are competitive and there are trade-offs that workers have to make until the demands are finally met.
Whether you’re looking to recruit or would like to overhaul your employee benefits package and adopt a hybrid working model KUHR is here to help. Click here to book a Discovery Call at a time convenient to you or hit the button below.