Dive Brief:
- Seventy-four percent of U.S. workers said they're ready to quit their jobs for one that lets them work from anywhere, and 66% believe the physical office will be obsolete by 2030, a new Zapier survey showed. The study of 880 knowledge workers, conducted online by The Harris Poll, also found that 95% of respondents want to work remotely.
- In other survey results, 31% of respondents want to work remotely, but their employers don't offer the option, and 26% have quit a job for one that lets them work from any location. The top five reasons respondents gave for wanting a remote-work option were to: save money; work anywhere; have time with family; be more productive at home; and maintain mental health.
- Women value remote work benefits more than men, but it's less likely women will have access to the perks, the study found.
Dive Insight:
Remote work is so much in demand that it has become an expectation for many employees; according to a IWG survey, 74% of respondents consider flexible work to be the norm. And an even greater number (80%) of respondents — more than respondents in the Zapier study — said they would choose a job with a remote-work option over a job without it. It appears employers are responding to workers' demand for flexibility, with 83% in the IWG survey reportedly offering remote-work options.
As women have largely remained the designated primary caretakers in the family unit, it may not come as a surprise they place a higher value on remote work, which could free them from rigid schedules and in-office requirements that would create and complicate childcare needs. It follows that employers should address any gender-based inequities in the accessibility of remote-work options; making remote work available to more women would benefit the recipients and it would potentially allow employers to add more women to their payrolls. Related, research from Owl Labs found that remote-work options have no negative impact on the pay disparities between men and women. But as more employers make remote-work options available, HR leaders will need to make sure that the benefit is offered without bias towards any one group of workers.
