- The newfound flexibility many workers experienced amid the pandemic has made an indelible mark.
- It’s a similar story across much of western Europe and the US.
- Huge global brands aren’t the only ones noticing this increased demand.
- We will see more people being brought back into the office.
More people are looking for remote jobs as a result of fears that office recalls may restrict the number of workers who can work from home. Are they correct in their haste, as reported by Work Life.
Work in pandemic
The newfound flexibility many workers experienced amid the pandemic has made an indelible mark.
The ability to better balance work and life as well as ditch the commute has been a hugely positive side effect of a chaotic time – and now, millions of employees refuse to go back.
It’s a similar story across much of western Europe and the US.
In April, when Airbnb announced its new ‘Live and Work Anywhere’ policy, allowing almost all staff to work from anywhere in the country where they’re based without any salary change, the home-rentals platform saw a deluge of interest from job seekers: 800,000 visits to its careers page in the week after the announcement.
Huge global brands aren’t the only ones noticing this increased demand.
“Many of these applicants have highlighted the option of working remotely with us as a key reason for applying,” she says.
‘Battle spirit’
“Remote work as it is currently will disappear,” believes Chris Preston, the founder and director of Hampshire, UK-based The Culture Builders, which works with companies on improving their culture and performance.
With a slow return to normality, organisations are now having to take a longer-term view, he explains, and consider how remote work could impact their ability to manage employees, foster internal connections and measure productivity.
By February 2022, that figure had declined to 59%.
Though more than a third (36%) of workers spent at least one day per week working from home in January 2022, according to the Office for National Statistics.
“If you try to drag people back to the office because that’s the only way you’ve known how to work, the risk is that some of the best employees will leave.”
Where roles will emerge
However, adaptation could take time for some companies and indeed sectors, meaning it could become temporarily more challenging for workers to secure a remote role.
These could include tech providers or marketers.
We’ve already seen high-profile announcements from the likes of Twitter, Virgin Money and PwC. “The reasons for this are two-fold – they are the easiest sectors to transition to remote, and they are very much gripped by a talent shortage that makes flex working a key offering,” he says.
Last on the list is likely to be organisations in manufacturing or retail.
It also depends on people’s particular skills and level of experience.
That means that even if people are struggling to secure small roles right now, whether due to sector, job type or career length, there is no need to panic about missing out permanently.
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Source: Work Life
