What do you value most in a job? If you replied “flexibility” or “work-life balance,” you’re among the majority of individuals who also place these values ahead of the nature of work, career advancement opportunities and even salary.
Below are the most interesting insights from reports examining the increasing trend in remote work.
Remote work is increasing. An analysis done by FlexJobs and Global Workplace Analytics showed a significant upward trend in the number of people working remotely in the U.S. In the last five years, remote work increased 44%.
Those who currently work remotely want to continue doing so, citing flexibility as their top reason. In a three-year survey conducted by Buffer.com, 98% of remote workers said they want to continue working remotely.
Meanwhile, in Canada, individuals are similarly interested in remote work. In a survey conducted by the Government of Canada, most Canadians responded that, if they had the right to request a flexible work arrangement, they would be very likely to use that right.
Not only is the ability to work remotely one of the most sought after work perks, individuals are increasingly demanding more flexible work. A study conducted by Regus Canada identified that workers demanding to work closer to home and remotely are the second and third biggest drivers of flexible working (following businesses’ desire to decrease office costs)..
Here are some other interesting stats:
- Upwork’s May 2019 Future Workforce Report shows that 73% of all departments will have remote workers by 2028.
- In a study by Softchoice, 85% of North American office workers expect their employers to provide technology that enables them to work remotely, while 74% of workers would change jobs based on a work-from-home policy.
- In 2016, the Oxford Internet Institute created an Online Labour Index (OLI) that provides an online job economy equivalent of conventional labour market statistics. Here’s the 28-day moving average OLI for Canada showing a 50% increase since July 2016 (check out the site for overall OLI; and OLI by country and occupation).
Bottom line: the remote work revolution is happening. It’s a great opportunity for both companies and workers (and reduced commuting means it’s also environmentally friendly!), and in most cases, it’s the employees driving the trend.
Photo by Johnson Wang on Unsplash
