Remote roles attract more than three times as many applications as in-office jobs, survey finds

Who doesn’t love having the same debate over and over…and over again?

Well, the in-office versus hybrid and remote work discussion rages on, and while the majority of employees seemingly want to work remotely, many business leaders are putting more restrictions on the practice.

Changes and consequences. Three-quarters of companies revised their remote work policies in the 12 months between July 2022 and July 2023, and while one-third expanded WFH options, nearly one-half (43%) tightened the reins on remote work, according to ZipRecruiter’s Employer Survey of more than 2,000 hiring managers and recruiters. Of that 43%, the majority (72%) said they “lost valuable employees” as a result of mandating more in-office attendance, and 63% lost qualified applicants.

Overall, just 14% said their companies require employees to report to the office five days a week, and 21% said their workplaces are fully remote.

Perhaps not surprisingly, remote positions are more desirable to job applicants – they receive more than three times as many applications as fully in-person jobs. Nearly one-half (48%) of recruiters and hiring managers reported that a broader talent pool is one of the top benefits of remote work, along with improved retention (54%) and higher productivity (52%).

“As more and more companies ask their workers to come back into the office, 2024 is when we’re really going to see even more competition for these remote roles,” Ashlee Anderson, a career coach who specializes in remote jobs, told Insider.

Who’s more productive? Much of the RTO debate centers around productivity. Among the 43% of respondents whose employers reduced WFH options, 61% said it’s because they believe employees are more productive when they’re in the workplace, even though multiple studies indicate working from home can actually improve productivity. Furthermore, 64% of employers with in-office requirements are monitoring and enforcing those attendance policies.

“Disagreements about the productivity effects of work from home turn partly on what counts as productivity. Workers regard commute time savings as a source of productivity gains, while managers do not,” Nicholas Bloom, economics professor at Stanford University, said at a conference in September.

And so the debate over remote work continues…