Remote Work in 2023: what does the future hold?
Remote work is not going anywhere and will stay with us in 2023.
It has announced itself as one of the most sought-after employee benefits in the current state of affairs in the labor market. In 2023 flexibility will keep getting a spike as well as the growth of online jobs and working from home, more companies will start looking at hiring talents globally, and employers will invest more into the development of the remote culture, digital nomadism, and 4-day workweek trends will keep growing.
Flexibility keeps getting a spike
In 2023 you won’t impress anyone with #remote in the job offer description. Flexibility has a broader meaning than simply allowing your employees to work from home. Flexible days, the ability to choose your schedule and working hours, different types of contracts, and a chance to work literally from anywhere are becoming key criteria for talents across different industries.
In arecent McKinsey report,the data proves that when offered, almost everyone takes the opportunity to work flexibly. “The results of the survey showed that not only is flexible work popular, with 80 million Americans engaging in it (when the survey results are extrapolated to the wider population), but many want to work remotely for much of the week when given the choice,” states the report.
Given a solid number of different studies, flexible working has grown by anywhere from a third to tenfold since 2019. And this trend in the labor market will only grow in the upcoming years.
The EY report showed that:
- Nine out of ten employees want flexibility in where and when they work: 54% would choose flexibility when they work and 40% want flexibility in where they work.
- 33% of employee respondents said they want a shorter working week altogether.
- 67% believe their productivity can be accurately measured irrespective of location.
What do experts say?
In 2023 and beyond, more companies will embrace flexibility, even those for which this wasn’t a top priority, due to a "perfect storm" of at least 3 factors:
- It’s hard to go back or take away something that people saw work for years. Everyone now knows that knowledge work can be done remotely and that productivity levels have even increased during the pandemic. A significant percentage of top talent simply refuse to go back to the office, so companies will have to choose: work with mediocre talent and who’s around, or adapt and compete at a high level. So in a way, flexibility (which includes remote but isn’t only about remote) will be key for retaining talent in 2023 and beyond.
- In the upcoming (or already rolling) global recession (that triggered a "tech winter", too), which means saving on overheads such as office and commuting expenses, will become more important than it was before for both companies and individuals.
- Some companies have also started hiring remotely during the pandemic from new regions/markets/areas of the world. And they now know that getting the best match between skills and roles wherever that is available (rather than limiting yourself to a 20 km radius around your headquarters) is valuable and can make a huge difference. They, too, don’t want to go back to the office or have to relocate these employees to their HQs. And they want to continue to grow remotely, or at least partially distributed. This is great for employees too, as they can now access a wider pool of opportunities from across the world, a very helpful thing in times of economic slowdown.
All in all, flexibility and remote capability are net wins for both companies and individuals. But they are not a panacea and should be planned and organized accordingly.
The future isn’t fully remote or fully going back to the office. It’s about choice and agency, and about all of us working from where we’re most inspired, productive, and, why not, save some $$, too.
LAVINIA IOSUB,
Managing Partner at LivitGlobal hiring will prevail over local
In the coming future, the world will become a playground for talent acquisition managers. Talents will compete in a single global market. The coming storm in the economies worldwide will become an impetus to increase global hiring.
According to the Indeed & Glassdoor report on the future of the workplace, demographic trends in countries like the US, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, and Japan will experience an ongoing shortage of workers as their populations are aging. The economies of many countries could slow or even fall into recession as central banks work to lower inflation. But even if employers’ hiring appetites fade, the supply of workers seems likely to remain tight in the long run, states the report.
Global hiring is a gigantic pool from which organizations will draw their employees wherever they are.
"Companies are already losing out on great opportunities by sticking to a local/national/face-to-face style of working. Remote jobs, in theory, allow companies to attract and hire the best talent from around the world," says Argentine social scientist Tatiana Reuil on the World Economic Forum website.
This is because, when properly implemented, remote jobs can be a source of gains on both sides of the spectrum. They can benefit both employers and employees.
"Remote work has opened up a world of talent beyond our borders.It allows organizations to find specialized talent that is hard to find locally and eliminates all the complications associated with offshoring. It also benefits employees, who can now look far and wide to find the right industry, organization or role for them," confirms John MacKinlay, CEO of fintech Caary Capital.
But the stakes go far beyond individual destinies. The remote revolution will also have huge macroeconomic implications. Take the example of North/South imbalances.For the Omnipresent report, there is no doubt: telework will boost growth in the Indian subcontinent and sub-Saharan Africa, increasing their wages and reducing global pay gaps.
This means, however, that white-collar workers in rich countries will face new competition. This is a point to which we will have to pay attention, but for which, one of the answers could be a permanent increase in skills coupled with hyperspecialization.
Whatever happens, one thing remains certain. The globalization of teams is underway. Hence the need for organizations to create flexible and innovative work environments in order to attract the best people and lead the best teams possible. This is a task that starts today.
Remote jobs and the upcoming economic downturn
According to the latest Linkedin report on global talent trends, in February 2022 the US remote job postings on LinkedIn reached an all-time high, at 20% of all US jobs attracting over 50% of all applications. However, by September, the number of online jobs declined to 14% of all posts but reached 52% of all US applications.
However, the highest drop (over 10%) in online job offers was in India, Brazil, Mexico, the US, the UK, and Canada. Less than a 10% drop in remote postings was seen in Germany, France, and Italy.
Despite it, flexibility and remote employment will still be a top priority for talents, says Jennifer Shapley, LinkedIn’s vice president of global talent acquisition.
“Even facing an uncertain future, people still highly value two areas of work life that have gotten a lot of attention since the start of the pandemic: work-life balance, and flexible work arrangements – including remote work. I expect those two attributes to remain top talent drivers for years to come,” shared Shapley in the report.
“This year we are seeing a slower pace of growth, as the economy comes back down to earth after a meteoric rise last year in one of the fastest recoveries we have ever seen, “ LinkedIn chief economist Karin Kimbrough says. However, she adds that “labor-market dynamics remain tight. So, in many ways, employees still hold the power to demand more from their employers when it comes to salary, flexibility, and benefits. But this power balance is likely to start leveling out in the coming months. “
What do experts say?
Many headlines claim that an upcoming recession will mean the end of remote work.
That’s because the recession will lead to a cooling labor market, giving executives more power to force employees to comply with their demands. And while surveys show that the large majority of employees prefer to spend most or all their time working remotely, most executives want employees to be in the office.
Thus, according to these headlines, the recession will wipe out remote work [...] We have extensive evidence showing that remote work is more productive than in-office work. Besides offering more productivity for less money, remote work boosts the ability of companies to get the best hires.
The cost savings and productivity improvements associated with remote work, combined with less leeway for personal preferences due to the discipline imposed by the recession, will result in more and more traditionalist executives supporting their employees working remotely most or all of their time.
DR. GLEB TSIPURSKY
CEO of Disaster Avoidance ExpertsA 4-day workweek will pick up steam
The 4-day week is becoming a game-changer in the labor market, gaining followers all over the world, starting with British companies that are definitely adopting the formula.
100 companies are separate from the 70 other companies across the UK that are currently testing the 4-day week in a 6-month pilot, the first results of which are expected in early 2023. And other tests should be launched, including one in Scotland. This proves that the momentum for the “4-day week” is there. This means that the 4-day week without loss of pay “will become the normal way of working in this country by the end of the decade”, says Joe Ryle, Director of the 4 Day Week Campaign.
And this is not only true in the UK, or even in Europe. Let’s go to Australia. No less than one in three Australians would immediately leave their company to join a company that offers a 4-day week, according to a study by Future X Collective.
Unsurprisingly, it is the 18-24 age group that is most receptive to the idea (40% of Australians in this age group), the least interested being the 45-64 age group (26% of this age group). And this demand is beginning to be echoed by the country’s companies. After a successful trial in New Zealand, the food giant Unilever announced its intention to experiment with a four-day week in Australia.
More and more countries have started tests, including Spain, Germany, Japan, and Saudi Arabia. And this is just the beginning.
Employers will focus more on their company culture
The growing trend during 2022 was embracing a people-oriented approach and creating a sense of shared culture in a remote environment when performing online jobs. In 2023, more and more companies will invest in higher transparency and fostering trust, and leaders of the companies will set up a tone to make their companies’ culture more robust and thriving.
Remote companies are likely to pay more attention to employees’ well-being, bringing greater autonomy to their teams, focusing less on mismanagement, and prioritizing asynchronous work.
A culture of feedback, investment into team onboarding, live social events from time to time, and facilitation of the relationships between the teammates will become key components of the remote company’s culture.According to astudy by Mercer
- 7 in 10 companies are increasing their spending on employee benefits as a result of the pandemic.
- 84% of companies introduced new or expanded benefits as a result of the pandemic, including improved parental leave or unlimited PTO.
Some companies switch to creative perks like vet bill insurance, but the idea is simple - the more your employees feel supported, the better retention rate, productivity, and employee satisfaction it will have.
What do experts say?
I strongly believe in company culture is focused on authenticity and shared values. The past few years have shown that this is what truly connects team members rather than regular attendance to a physical building.
I imagine a great company culture that embraces diversity, and flexibility and enables everyone to thrive in terms of career progression. This is going to be the bridge between an amazing, future-proof company and a talented individual. Gone are the days of top-down management and putting people under pressure to follow outdated employee processes.
It’s all about a people-centric approach.
NADIA HARRIS
Founder of Remote Work AdvocateThe trend of digital nomadism will keep growing
More and more people start moving away from just working from home to working from literally anywhere they want. The Global Digital Nomad study showed that currently there are 35 million digital nomads worldwide, with the biggest number of nomads from the US and the UK. According to the MBO Partners 2022 State of Independence research, 16.9 million American workers currently describe themselves as digital nomads, increasing 9% from 2021 and a staggering 131% from the pre-pandemic year 2019.
Today, more than 45 countries around the world introduced digital nomad visas and other supporting programs to help nomads navigate in their countries. Governments at all levels recognize that digital nomadism brings benefits to local communities as digital nomads spend more money than tourists, don’t overload on public services, and create jobs for locals or even start their own local businesses.
According to trend-tracking site Exploding Topics, searches for the term “nomad visa” have increased by 2,400 percent in the past five years.
More and more countries start looking into this direction and in 2023 we will probably witness an increase in both - number of people switching to digital nomadism and governments that will step into attracting these people into their countries.
What do experts say?
As remote opportunities grow along with the awareness around this lifestyle, I definitely foresee digital nomadism continuing to grow in 2023.
This year has already shown extensive growth with the introduction of digital nomad visas and resources to support the lifestyle. I’m excited to see how this continues to evolve in the new year.
More and more people will change their career paths and skill sets
The significant impact on the labor market had the COVID-19 pandemic that made the workforce reevaluate their aspirations of what they want at their job as well as what lifestyle they want to have. Online jobs and working from home played an outstanding role here.
The main reasons for changing career paths are salary dissatisfaction, they don’t get along with the company’s philosophy, uninspiring leadership, the desire for more flexibility and work-life balance, and are not satisfied with the work they are currently doing.
- 35% of employees say pay raises will reduce turnover [EY study].
- 80% of employees want to work at least two days remotely per week. Just 20% of employees voiced reluctance toward fully remote working, compared to 34% last year, showing broader acceptance of working from anywhere [EY study].
Over 60% of working parents have considered a career change or leaving their jobs outright since 2020, mainly because their current employer didn’t make enough efforts to make a change and make it easier to work as a parent, according to theCatalyst report.
A recent Washington Post-Schar School poll found that one-third of workers under the age of 40 considering changing careers or switching industries since the pandemic
“What’s different about this wave of career switchers is that while the traditional reasons for changing careers are still important considerations, they aren’t the only ones or even the most important ones anymore,” says Deb Broberg, Executive Director of Real Time Talent and a U.S. Chamber Talent Pipeline Management fellow.
Today, remote work has become a permanent feature of the new world and people switch their careers to seek opportunities that will not make them relocate.
The HR software firm BambooHR found in their survey that in 2022:
- 63% of respondents had considered changing their career, industry, or getting back to school within the past six months.
- 88% said they could see themselves working in an industry other than the one in which they were currently employed.
- Gen Z and millennial respondents were the most open to an industry change.
- Healthcare, business and professional services, arts, and entertainment were the top industry choices for these respondents.
According to the latest McKinsey report, in Europe, over 40% of respondents consider inadequate compensation and lack of flexibility as crucial factors for changing a job, while 35% believe that meaningful work contributes to retention rates.
Talents will switch to fixed salary compensation amid the economic slowdown
With the looming economic recession employees in 2023 would benefit more from fixed compensation rather than variable pay in form of stock options or bonus/performance-based systems as the valuation of companies and business activities is likely to slow down.
The advantages of fixed pay for employees are reflected in forecasting and organization of their budget if they know the amount of paycheck in advance, benefit employee’s security and help to increase retention rates, as well as bring more flexibility as the employee can have flexible working hours (an employee can work a bit earlier or later and still be paid the same amount).
What do experts say?
I’m also convinced that many people will look for a career change in 2023.
Why? Because what starts making sense to more and more employees is a happy and healthy lifestyle. Giving up on what’s important to us just to climb the corporate ladder like it was in the old days is no longer desired.
There should be no compromise between a great career and personal life - luckily, the rise of remote job offers is making many people’s dreams come true. What’s also important is the fact that remote work generally focuses on skills and deliverables. This is a great chance for people who want to completely change their careers by monetizing a great skill they have.
It’s no longer just about the job title but what we are best at and this can add value to the business. To me, it’s a win-win situation for both sides.