Listen Up Employers: 85% Of Workers Want Remote Work

What’s going on:    

A recent survey from recruitment firm Robert Half revealed that the 85% of Canadian respondents are interested in a hybrid or fully remote working arrangement, with 25% saying they would even accept a 16% pay cut to make it happen.  

In particular, marketers, creatives, parents and those aged 18 to 25 are willing to sacrifice a portion of their salary for the privilege of working from home. 

Why it matters:  

Organizations are attempting to return more team members to their offices in order to create a sense of unity, yet employees still wish to have the freedom to work from wherever and whenever they choose. 

Interestingly, despite the country coming out of the pandemic, the demand for hybrid and remote work remains high, yet the job postings seem to be failing to keep up.  

Data from Robert Half showed that a mere 22.9% of job postings in January 2021 were advertised as remote, only slightly increasing from 20.6% in the year before. 

How it’ll impact the future:  

Flexibility, one of the top benefits cited by remote workers, provides much-desired autonomy, but employers aren’t as keen.  

“I think we continue to be on a bit of a collision course between what employers are looking for and what employees are somewhat expecting,” Mike Shekhtman, senior regional director at Robert Half, told Yahoo Finance Canada, “It’s a little bit of a tug of war.”