For the final six years, we’ve printed the State of Distant Work report. We use this report back to do a deep dive into the expertise of distant employees all over the world, their work construction, their struggles, and their profession development and pay.
This yr, we had 3,000 distant employees reply to the State of Distant Work to assist present insights.
On this submit, we’ll cowl the highest seven insights from the 2023 State of Distant Work. We’ll take a deeper take a look at a few of the tendencies that at present exist within the distant workspace.
Thanks to Nomad Listing and Distant OK, who partnered with us on this yr’s State of Distant Work report! Learn the total report right here:
Let’s take a more in-depth take a look at what this yr’s report has to say in regards to the state of distant work.
1. Distant work continues to be perceived as very optimistic.
Distant work has its fair proportion of critics. Nonetheless, those that work remotely understand it very properly. A whopping 98 % of respondents need to work remotely for the remainder of their careers. One other 98 % would additionally suggest distant work to others.
We ask these inquiries to attempt to get a way of how distant employees are feeling about distant work, and persistently we be taught that they need to maintain working remotely and they’d suggest it to others.
These two responses are up barely from 97 % in 2022.
One other indicator for distant work is that we instantly ask respondents about their expertise. Once more, we had nice outcomes — 91 % of respondents report having a optimistic expertise and simply 1 % described their expertise with distant work as damaging. Respondents had been almost certainly to pick very optimistic with 68 % of respondents choosing it, and 23 % chosen considerably optimistic.
General, whatever the critics, individuals who work remotely overwhelmingly need to proceed working remotely, we see this yr after yr. That is one thing to think about as some organizations are contemplating the return to the workplace. We’ll get into that subsequent.
2. Distant employees don’t desire a hybrid setup
In 2020, distant work turned the norm out of necessity. In 2021 and 2022, the dialog largely revolved across the return to the workplace, or easy methods to efficiently undertake a hybrid strategy to work.
Based mostly on this yr’s responses, we are able to see that distant employees don’t desire a hybrid setup.
When requested about their present work construction, most of our respondents (64 %) had been totally distant, one other 18 % had been hybrid and distant first, 9 % had been hybrid and workplace occasional (required or inspired to be within the workplace), and one other 9 % had been hybrid and office-first with distant work allowed.
Within the subsequent query, we requested in regards to the construction that those self same respondents wish to have, and the response was clear — 71 % would favor totally distant, and 20 % would select hybrid but in addition remote-first, which may be very near being totally distant. Simply 6 % chosen hybrid and workplace occasional, and one other 2 % chosen hybrid and workplace first, with 1 % choosing totally workplace primarily based.
These tendencies have all elevated from 2022 as properly. In 2022 we had fewer respondents who had been already totally distant (49 %) and fewer who chosen that they most popular a totally distant setup (56 %).
After a number of years the place the hybrid work construction has been explored by many massive organizations, these outcomes may point out that the hybrid setup has not been working for distant employees they usually favor being totally distant or as shut to completely distant as attainable.
3. Flexibility continues to be the most important good thing about working remotely
Unsurprisingly, the highest good thing about distant work stays flexibility. We get particular about what respondents imply once they say flexibility, although. For 22 %, the most important good thing about distant work is the pliability in how they spend their time, for 19 % it’s the pliability to stay the place they select, and for 13 % it’s the pliability to decide on their work location.
We’ve seen many examples of Buffer teammates embracing the pliability we provide to stay and work in a different way they usually’ve discovered numerous happiness within the setup. One teammate has been a digital nomad ever since becoming a member of the group.
This flexibility lends itself in a different way to everybody and we’ve seen different teams like dad and mom use distant work to arrange their schedules to work higher for his or her households as properly.
4. One in three distant employees experiences staying house too actually because they don’t have a purpose to go away
We at all times dig into the most important struggles of distant work alongside the most important advantages — and the highest responses are at all times shifting. For a number of years, we noticed communication and collaboration had been the most important challenges for distant employees adopted by loneliness, we noticed loneliness spike in 2020, after which not with the ability to unplug led the best way in each 2021 and 2022 with loneliness as a detailed second.
This yr, we added an choice to the survey that we had seen spoken about on-line and in our personal circles relating to struggles with working remotely — “I keep house too actually because I don’t have a purpose to go away.” This feature ended up being the almost certainly response with 33 % of respondents choosing it as a battle that they’ve. When requested about their greatest battle from the record, staying house too usually remained within the lead with 21 % of distant employees choosing it.
The following most chosen battle for distant employees was loneliness, with 23 % of distant employees choosing it total and 15 % of distant employees choosing it as their prime battle from the record. These two struggles go hand in hand and paint an image of how the fact of distant work will be very difficult.
5. Distant employees discover work boundaries essential however are solely reasonably profitable with setting them
Whereas 71 % of respondents say it’s crucial to set work boundaries, distant employees are solely reasonably profitable.
Eighty-one % of distant employees declare to verify work emails exterior of labor hours, together with 63 % who accomplish that on weekends and 34 % whereas on trip. One other 48 % say they steadily work exterior of conventional work hours, and 44 % of distant employees say they’ve labored extra this yr in comparison with final yr. Lastly, 22 % report not with the ability to unplug as their greatest problem with distant work.
Organizations and leaders have a job to play in work boundaries as properly by guaranteeing that communication expectations are clear, particularly on distant groups the place your gadgets act as a workspace but in addition private area. Right here’s how we arrange agreements for the way we talk on Slack at Buffer.
6. Distant employees are cut up on if profession development is tougher remotely, nevertheless it’s trending towards simpler
In 2022’s report, we added a query to be taught extra about profession development for distant employees — a trending subject on the time as some claimed distant work can be detrimental to anybody’s profession. In that report, 45 % of respondents mentioned that distant work did make profession development tougher, simply 14 % mentioned distant work made profession development simpler, and the remaining 41 % mentioned it had no affect.
This yr, we requested the query once more, and we acquired a really totally different response. We noticed an enormous enhance within the quantity of people that chosen that distant work made profession development simpler — from 14 % to 36 %. We additionally noticed the group that discovered profession development tougher lower from 45 % in 2022 to twenty-eight % in 2023.
These tendencies are total optimistic, as distant employees are both saying profession development is less complicated or that distant work has no affect on their profession development. The tip outcomes although are nonetheless cut up with 28 % discovering profession development tougher whereas distant and 36 % discovering it simpler.
The group who discover distant work simpler for his or her profession development had been almost certainly to pick that the explanation they felt that was that they had been measured on their output and affect as an alternative of their time within the workplace, in addition to the truth that all workers are on a degree taking part in subject as a result of they’re all distant. Profession frameworks could be a large assist right here.
On the flip facet, the group who discovered distant work tougher mentioned it was as a result of they really feel like in the event that they aren’t seen they aren’t considered for brand new alternatives, in addition to as a result of they don’t know easy methods to promote their very own success they usually really feel overlooked of natural conversations. This final one hints at a niche between totally distant employees and hybrid employees — and once we regarded into that hole it was there. Individuals who chosen that they work hybrid and workplace occasional or hybrid and workplace first had been extra more likely to choose that distant work was tougher than their totally distant or hybrid and distant first counterparts.
The sensation that profession development is tougher for hybrid employees is probably another excuse that distant employees favor to not work in a hybrid setup except it’s distant first.
7. Distant employees really feel related to their colleagues, and are extra energized and engaged
One other criticism is that distant employees don’t really feel related to their colleagues and aren’t engaged at work. We are able to show this isn’t true.
From our survey, 75 % of distant employees really feel related to their colleagues, though a majority of the respondents work throughout time zones. Greater than half of respondents (58 %) mentioned that they really feel engaged about their job, in comparison with 30 % who’re unengaged.
One other optimistic indicator on this entrance, in comparison with a yr in the past, nearly half of distant employees say they’re feeling extra energized. Twenty-one % report feeling burnt out and 31 % report no change.
General, this report has felt like a powerful indicator of the soundness of distant work in immediately’s office. Many distant employees say that their firm is completely permitting some type of distant work, and distant work’s advantages appear to outweigh the struggles as distant employees proceed to need to work remotely for the remainder of their careers.
What would you like us to ask about subsequent yr? Ship us a tweet or pop into our neighborhood.
