Trends Include International Hiring, Difficulty Finding U.S. Talent
In the years since the COVID-19 pandemic, the face of remote work has changed. Home offices have been built, and while some office buildings are populated once again, others are embracing the concept and making remote work their “new normal.” But where is remote work going from here?
We surveyed 500 employees and 500 managers across the U.S. on their preferences around remote work as well as what the future of remote work looks like. One unexpected trend: some companies are looking to hire more remote workers outside of the United States.
Remote Work Hiring Forecast
The good news for remote work advocates is that over half of managers — 54% — say their companies are still planning on hiring fully remote employees in 2024. Another 30% say their company is no longer hiring purely remote employees, opting instead for in-person work or a hybrid setup.
One major trend managers highlight is international hiring, whether through nearshoring or outsourcing. 37% of managers say their companies plan on hiring international remote employees in the next two years. This might be partially because 29% say it’s difficult to hire quality remote workers in the U.S.
Contributing Factors to Remote Hiring Trends
There are many contributing factors to the changing face of remote work. Over 1 in 3 managers say U.S. remote workers want too much flexibility. Additionally, 29% say it’s difficult to hire quality remote workers in the U.S., and a similar amount don’t see job security for their remote employees. Nearly 1 in 4 see higher turnover among remote employees as opposed to their hybrid or in-office counterparts as well.
There are also many workers who have never set foot in an office. Over 1 in 3 managers surveyed have at least one employee who has never had an office job, and 1 in 5 managers say those without office experience are more difficult to work with. These difficulties may contribute to the 1 in 4 managers who find it difficult to manage effectively in a remote workplace.
The Price of Staying Remote
The survey revealed remote employees are reluctant to ever return to an in-office setting. In fact, both managers and employees alike are willing to take a pay cut to stay fully remote.
Average Pay Cut to Stay Remote
- $11,294: Avg. pay cut a manager would take
- $7,728: Avg. pay cut an employee would take
What would it cost employers to buy office attendance for their remote teams? Both managers and individual employees surveyed would require significant pay increases if they were to abandon their remote lifestyle and return to the office.
Desired pay raise to return to office
- 29% increase in salary for managers to return fully in-office
- 31% increase in salary for individual employees to return fully in-office
Top Remote Work Challenges in 2024 for Employees and Managers
As we all know, remote work is not a perfect beast. Many companies reference productivity loss and company culture deficits as chief motivators for their policy changes regarding returning to the office, but what are the real challenges?
The biggest challenge of remote work for managers is distractions, followed by effective communication, employee accountability, time zone challenges, and being an effective manager. Others cite deficits in company culture (17%) and technology issues (18%) as other challenges of remote work.
How Do Employees and Managers Prefer Working Remotely?
For employees, the majority (68%) prefer fully remote working, followed by 20% for remote-first hybrid, 11% for a more office-centric hybrid, and a paltry 1% prefer fully in-office work. Managers, meanwhile, follow the same paradigm, though more of them prefer some sort of hybrid arrangement: 56% prefer fully remote work, followed by 22% for remote-first hybrid, 19% for hybrid that’s more in-office, and 3% prefer fully in-office work.
38% of managers prefer managing their employees in a fully remote environment, followed by 34% preferring hybrid, and 21% prefer managing fully in person.
Remote work has definitely shifted from an option to a demand for a large chunk of the workforce: 41% of employees and 49% of managers would never consider a fully in-office job.
At the end of the day, though, it’s all about priorities: 44% of managers prioritize high-quality deliverables, followed by ensuring everyone is doing their jobs (36%), employee happiness (12%), enforcing company policy (6%), and making their own manager happy as well.
While remote work remains in tension between workers' increased desire for flexibility and managers' accountability, it’s sure to persist in some capacity in the workplace for years to come.
Methodology & Fair Use
In June 2024, we surveyed 502 employees and 500 managers who self-identified as either hybrid or remote workers. For managers, ages ranged 21 to 76 with an average age of 43, while employees ranged 19 to 77 with an average age of 40. Managers were 52% men, 47% women, and 1% either non-binary or would not say. Employees were 49% men, 50% women, and 1% either non-binary or would not say. Best represented work sectors across both were tech, business, and health professions.
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Fair Use
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