Whatever the predictions, the percentage of workers in remote and hybrid roles has remained stable since the end of the pandemic, according to research from Perceptyx. And, the past two years have seen no statistical change in the overall proportion of employees working on-site.
However, the behavior of new employees may be hint at a course change: Between 2022 and 2023, the share of workers who’d been at their job for 12 months or less increased from 62% to 69%.
“Employers may be phasing out remote and hybrid roles for new hires,” said Emily Killham, Perceptyx senior director of people analytics, research & insights. “The return-to-office trend is largely being driven by new hires. If businesses are committed to full-scale RTO, they may be pursuing it through attrition, rather than forcing the issue with existing staff.”
Other findings point to similar conclusions. On Indeed, the share of job descriptions advertising remote and hybrid work fell 18% between February 2022 and May 2023. Some of the most remote-friendly roles, such as software developer, mention remote work less frequently than they had previously.
“Employers are still showing us that they want workers in the office,” Killham said. “Despite evidence that hybrid work can improve morale and productivity, the ‘officism’ bias persists.” difference.”
Remote Work, Remote Logic
That doesn’t mean employees themselves are giving up on the idea of flexible work. According to Indeed, keywords related to remote work appear in 8.6% of all job searches, and 8.3% of job postings advertise some form of remote work. Both numbers represent only slight declines from recent highs.
Still, employers’ thinking about remote work is often confused. Some 73% of managers believe productivity and engagement have either improved or stayed the same as more employees moved to remote work, GoodHire found. At the same time, 75% want workers back on-site.
To muddy the waters further: Managers say they’re concerned about lack of focus, loss of company culture and pressures on productivity. But… 68% believe a fully remote operation would either add to their profit or help keep the bottom line the same.
Image: Perceptyx
