Positions that allow remote work continue their upward incline: According to data from Ladders, a career site for positions that pay $100,000 or more, 36% of all professional jobs are now remote. That’s a huge jump over the past couple of years. Prior to the pandemic, only about 4% of high-paying jobs were available remotely. By the end of 2021, that jumped to 18% and now, at the end of 2022, that number has doubled.
What it means for HR leaders
The data is an indication of the continuing trend of remote work and proof that it’s more than a trend—it’s here to stay. That’s despite some company leaders’ decisions to require employees to return to the office after two-and-a-half years of embracing remote work due to the continuing pandemic.
New Twitter head Elon Musk, for instance, made headlines when he announced he is requiring Twitter employees to return to the office, expecting them to be in the office for at least 40 hours a week. That’s in contrast to a policy that the social media company announced early in the COVID-19 pandemic allowing employees to work remotely “forever.”
“This year, we’ve seen a massive influx of return-to-work policies, creating discourse around the future of the office and work in general,” says Ladders CEO Dave Fisch. “What we’re seeing is a significant increase in remote jobs yearly and monthly, and there’s no sign of slowing down.”
Unsurprisingly, big cities like San Francisco and New York are leading the charge in offering high-paying remote jobs, the Ladders data reveals. But the practice also continues to be more common throughout the U.S. Experts say that HR and other company leaders could fall behind in a hot talent market if they don’t allow employees to work remotely. That’s because employees overwhelmingly prefer to have the option, with some polls finding workers would look for another job if their employers required them to work from an office.
“Remote work has asserted its place in the American work-life dynamic,” Fisch says, “so it’s important that business leaders do not take their employees’ wishes for granted, even if their bargaining power is declining, as it could result in a loss of talent.”
Learn more about remote work trends at HRE’s upcoming Health & Benefits Leadership Conference, taking place in Las Vegas from May 3-5. Learn more and register here.
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