Remote work’s gradual decline is reversing, at least for now, as the number of remote workers slightly increased over the last several weeks.
Key Details
- In November 2022, around 55% of workers were onsite, and 25% were remote—a 30-point gap between them. Now that gap is just 22 percentage points.
- Around 28% of employees are remote workers. Hybrid work employees make up about 18% of the workforce, and 50% continue working onsite.
- Previous projections for remote work had been grim as fewer employees could work from home.
- A LinkedIn analysis reported fewer remote work listings, and reports found that building capacity reached 50%, indicating more in-person workers.
- This recent change could be due to colder winter weather. Fewer employees want to bundle up and travel to work in the cold when they can work from home.
Why it’s new
Though remote work became popular among employees during the pandemic, many employers are now pushing for their workers to return to the office—but some are resisting.
However, employers are beginning to gain the advantage as more corporate layoffs in several industries cause employees to be more conscious about job security.
Despite worker concerns, the job market remains tight. Unemployment reached 3.5% in December, and hourly wages were 4.6% higher than the year before. The Labor Department reported nearly 11 million jobs were unfilled. Compared to the year before, layoffs in December increased but were still lower than before the pandemic.
Last month’s reports showed a continuing tight labor market, but there were some signs of cooling. Hiring was the slowest in two years. Head-count gains and yearly wage increases lessened, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Backing up a bit
For the first time since the pandemic, U.S. office occupancy levels have reached 50%. More than half of U.S. workers went in person to the office at the end of January for the first time since the pandemic.
Kastle Systems, a key-card security company that has been monitoring occupancy levels, reported that 10 metro areas saw a 0.9% increase in occupancy. All cities that Kastle Systems tracks had at least a 40% occupancy level—another post-pandemic record.
Most of the cities’ occupancy levels stayed the same or increased. New York occupancy reached 47.5% for the week ending on January 25. Austin, Texas, had the highest occupancy rate of 68%. San Jose, California, had the lowest at 41%.