- Employees who can work remotely as needed are 22% less likely to quit than fully remote workers and 32% less likely to quit compared to fully on-site workers.
- According to HR leaders, remote work is not to blame for decreased productivity; they believe high turnover and insufficient pay are the top reasons for the decline.
- The gender pay gap is ten cents wider for women who work from home (79 cents) compared to women who can’t work from home (89 cents).
SEATTLE, Oct. 04, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Payscale Inc., the leading provider of compensation data, software and services, released the results of its 2023 Remote Work Report, providing an updated analysis of work-from-home and return-to-office polices and expectations. The report found that an inability to work remotely is correlated with quitting; employees who must work on-site are 14% more likely to seek a new job than those who are fully remote, while those who have the ability to work from home as needed are least likely to seek a new job.
“We’ve known that employees value the flexibility that comes with working from home, but the data suggests that autonomy over where they spend their workday is most important. Some employees actually do want to come into an office — they just don't want to adhere to a blanket policy dictating when or how often,” said Lexi Clarke, chief people officer at Payscale. “At Payscale, we've adopted a remote-first policy; we provide access to flexible coworking spaces for employees to use at their discretion and enable managers to gather teams together during moments that matter. Above all, employees want freedom and trust from their employers. When these needs are not met, frustrations arise.”
Most organizations (62%) have been met with resistance from employees to return to offices, and while nine out of 10 HR leaders believe that ‘carrots’ work better than ‘sticks’ to lure employees back, they also recognize the importance of remote work — with 91% agreeing that workplace flexibility is a critical benefit for attracting talent. When it comes to productivity, HR leaders also don’t believe that remote work is the scapegoat it's been made out to be; rather, they believe higher-than-average turnover and insufficient pay can explain the decline.
“There’s a common misconception that employees are less productive when working from home, but that’s not what HR professionals are seeing,” added Clarke. “Over the last few years, a combination of high inflation, depressed wages and the growing friction between employees and employers has led to a trend of disengagement and resignations. High turnover leaves existing employees with overburdened workloads and new employees take time to hire and get up to speed, so productivity is negatively impacted at both ends. This is why people leadership and talent strategy need to be central to business operations.”
While the gender pay gap exists for women regardless of their working environment, the report also found that women who work from home make just 79 cents for every dollar a man who works remotely earns; for men and women who work in-person, the difference is 89 cents. Women also have slightly higher expectations for remote work opportunities than men, at 48% compared to 43%.
“This data highlights the need to monitor both the opportunity gap and pay gaps between employees with different workplace locations,” said Ruth Thomas, pay equity strategist for Payscale. “We can be optimistic that the push to remote or hybrid work will normalize flexible work schedules that help employees of all genders balance professional and domestic responsibilities, but as that transition happens, companies must be mindful about addressing systemic pay inequities wherever they are hiding.”
The Remote Work Report analyzes data from 309,971 workers who took Payscale’s online salary survey between August 2021 and August 2023, in addition to data from a survey of 980 employers fielded between July and August 2023. The full report and its methodology can be accessed in its entirety at Payscale.com/research-and-insights/remote-work.
About Payscale
As the industry leader in compensation management, Payscale is on a mission to help job seekers, employees, and businesses get pay right and to make sustainable fair pay a reality. Empowering more than 50% of the Fortune 500 in 198 countries, Payscale provides a combination of diverse and dynamic data sources, experienced compensation services, and scalable software to enable organizations such as Angel City Football Club, Target, Gainsight, and eBay to make fair and appropriate pay decisions.
Pay is powerful. To learn more, visit www.payscale.com.
Contact: Press@Payscale.com
