63% of Americans Say Remote Work Trumps Salary as No. 1 Priority — Does Job Market Reflect Demand?
Written by
Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy
Edited by
Cory Dudak
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It’s no secret that the work landscape has drastically changed since the pandemic — notably, the surge of remote, flexible and hybrid jobs. As such, this is something that employees are valuing even more than other career-related criteria.
And the figures speak for themselves: FlexJobs’ Remote Work & RTO Pulse Report found that 63% of people say “having remote work” is what’s most important to them in a job. This is even more important than the salary (61%), having a flexible schedule (55%), work-life boundaries (54%) or having a good boss (48%).
And a huge segment of workers want to be fully remote (51%) or hybrid (46%), the report found.
Keith Spencer, career expert at FlexJobs, said that the recent survey has also shown that 95% of workers want some form of remote work, whether full-time work-from-home or a hybrid working arrangement.
“This should come as no surprise given the multitude of benefits of remote work, including a direct impact on mental and emotional health and the ability to save an average of $6,000 a year by working from home,” he said.
These costs remote employees can save include gas, transportation, clothes and eating out, for instance, according to a recent FlexJobs article.
Spencer added that while headlines filled with RTO mandates from well-known companies might give a different impression, the current job market is reflecting the demand for remote and hybrid work arrangements.
He added that FlexJobs continues to see increases in both remote and hybrid job postings, and their recent list of the Top 100 Companies for Hybrid Jobs in 2023 saw 50 new companies join the list. In addition, many of the companies implementing RTO mandates are offering a hybrid work model for their employees.
Of note, as well, there is a multi-generational support of remote work: Gen Z (40%), millennials (56%) and Gen X (75%) are in support of remote and hybrid work options. Meanwhile, almost half of millennials (45%) and two-thirds of Gen X (62%) said their ideal work arrangement is working remotely 100% of the time.
“Remote work is here to stay, particularly as employers are starting to realize the many benefits of remote and flexible work options for their organizations,” said Spencer. “Companies that have adopted permanent remote or hybrid arrangements have benefited from access to larger talent pools, reduced rates of attrition and unscheduled absences, increased productivity, and an improved ability to scale more quickly.”
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