Office-Bound: Are Remote Jobs Going Away?

With time, all things change, even the way we work. When work-from-home became a more popular option, it came with pros and cons for businesses and workers alike. Though there have been plenty of surveys, it’s unclear whether remote jobs are going away.

Working from home has seen an uptick due to necessity since 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic. “Workers were still more likely to work at home in 2023 (35%) than in 2019 (24%),” according to the 2023 American Time Use Survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

When it comes to remote work, some companies have concerns about productivity, communication, and information security. There are also alarms ringing about how commercial real estate is impacted by office spaces being left unoccupied and the many industries connected to commercial real estate suffering.

While enjoying more life-work balance, flexibility, and reduced office politics that come with working at home, employees have concerns about isolation, working longer hours, and they also note communication as a worry.

Regardless of the advantages and disadvantages, Harvard Business Review asserts that remote work isn’t going away based on four factors:

–As remote technology improves, remote work will also improve.

–Growing startups founded after the beginning of the pandemic are likely to increasingly offer remote work.

–With better management practices, U.S. companies are enabled to effectively manage remote work. And

–The option to work remotely leads to 35% less turnover because employees like it.

“We’re never going to go back to a five-days-in-the-office policy,” Stephan Meier, professor of business at Columbia University told USA Today. “Some employers are going to force people to come back, but I think over the next year, more and more firms will actually figure out how to manage hybrid well.”

With hybrid work, both companies and employees can find the sweet spot to flexibly get the job done.

ZipRecruiter’s chief economist, Julia Pollak told USA Today, “I think the numbers will gradually go up as this becomes more of an accepted norm as future generations grow up with it being so widely available, and as the technology for for doing it gets better. Reluctant leaders aging out of the workforce will help, too.” 

So, are remote jobs going away? The data indicates not entirely. Though some businesses have required employees to come back to the office, just as many are allowing employees to work from home. Also, with improvements, new jobs are expected to become available in the future.

The author’s content and opinions have not been pre-reviewed, approved or endorsed by Discover.