Remote Work Stats
Most teams and companies Iโd love to work with are looking for ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ/๐ต๐๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฑ employees within Europe. As a result, most of my conversations with recruiters go something like this: โ๐๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ฆ?โ โ๐๐ฐ?โ โ๐๐ฐ ๐ด๐ข๐ฅโ ๐ฅฒ
Itโs really sad because I canโt relocate right now, so Iโll probably have to settle for a compromise.
Youโve likely noticed that ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐น๐, especially for People roles, where companies prefer to have their HR folks closer to the team.
๐ข Businesses claim that onsite/hybrid work ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ผ๐๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐. Many employees have also ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐ฒ, and as People Ops, I completely understand the challenges of remote work ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ด๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ, ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ฎ๐น ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ (even providers like Deel, which promised to make my life easier, have only opened the door to a new world of hands-on experience with international labor laws ๐).
๐ Itโs worth noting that predictive research suggests a promising future for remote work. Studies, including those by Stanford professor Nick Bloom, indicate a potential ๐ด๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐๐ต ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐.
๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต:
๏ฟญ There is a significant and positive ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ป๐๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐. Itโs important to note that correlation doesnโt imply causation, so this productivity might be due to excellent management or asynchronous solid communication. Besides, the impact of hybrid work on productivity is close to zero.
๏ฟญ Each additional ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐๐ต ๐ฏ๐ ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฌ.๐ฑ%. In other words, the more remote work, the slower the salary growth within a company. Nick explains this by noting that the supply of remote workers in the market exceeds the demand, allowing companies to lower compensation. So, remote workers also tend to be cheaper for companies.
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๏ฟญ The peak level of work-from-home ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐๐ผ ๐ฐ๐ฌ (with toddlers at home), while the level is ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ (mentorship, social interaction).
๐ฏ Debating the advantages of remote vs. onsite work can go on forever. Still, when choosing a work format for employees, companies always make strategic decisions about whether to bet on ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐, ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐, ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป.
