There has always been strong demand for remote work and it wasn’t until the global COVID-19 pandemic that the supply side (employers) briefly caught up.
There is still not enough supply. Flexible work and work from home options are among the top reasons for changing jobs. Back to the office efforts have stalled. Commercial real estate value is crashing. Remote jobs rose to nearly 15 percent of all high-paying job listings.
What is the actual ceiling? According to the US Bureau of Statistics, 45% of jobs can be done remotely today. That doesn’t account for jobs being created or changes to the composition of jobs over time (e.g. more information workers, less coal miners). Realistically though, it’s the employers resisting change from a traditional office-based environment to a remote-enabled workplace.
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Willingness to Relocate for a New Job Is at an All Time Low
A recent survey of 3,000 job seekers found the willingness to relocate for a new job fell from 3.5% in 2022 to 1.6% in 2023. Even more astounding is that the number is down from 29% in the 1990’s.