Key Insights from The 2023 State of Remote Work

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 staff around the globe, their work construction, their struggles, and their profession progress and pay.

This 12 months, we had 3,000 distant staff reply to the State of Distant Work to assist present insights.

On this publish, we’ll cowl the highest seven insights from the 2023 State of Distant Work. We’ll take a deeper take a look at among the developments that presently exist within the distant workspace.

Thanks to Nomad Checklist and Distant OK, who partnered with us on this 12 months’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 12 months’s report has to say in regards to the state of distant work.

1. Distant work continues to be perceived as very constructive.

Distant work has its fair proportion of critics. Nonetheless, those that work remotely understand it very properly. A whopping 98 p.c of respondents need to work remotely for the remainder of their careers. One other 98 p.c would additionally suggest distant work to others.

We ask these inquiries to try to get a way of how distant staff are feeling about distant work, and persistently we be taught that they need to preserve working remotely and they might suggest it to others.

These two responses are up barely from 97 p.c in 2022.

One other indicator for distant work is that we straight ask respondents about their expertise. Once more, we had nice outcomes — 91 p.c of respondents report having a constructive expertise and simply 1 p.c described their expertise with distant work as destructive. Respondents have been most definitely to pick very constructive with 68 p.c of respondents deciding on it, and 23 p.c chosen considerably constructive.

Total, whatever the critics, individuals who work remotely overwhelmingly need to proceed working remotely, we see this 12 months after 12 months. 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 staff don’t desire a hybrid setup

In 2020, distant work grew to become the norm out of necessity. In 2021 and 2022, the dialog largely revolved across the return to the workplace, or how one can efficiently undertake a hybrid strategy to work.

Primarily based on this 12 months’s responses, we will see that distant staff don’t desire a hybrid setup.

When requested about their present work construction, most of our respondents (64 p.c) have been absolutely distant, one other 18 p.c have been hybrid and distant first, 9 p.c have been hybrid and workplace occasional (required or inspired to be within the workplace), and one other 9 p.c have 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 p.c would like absolutely distant, and 20 p.c would select hybrid but in addition remote-first, which could be very near being absolutely distant. Simply 6 p.c chosen hybrid and workplace occasional, and one other 2 p.c chosen hybrid and workplace first, with 1 p.c deciding on absolutely workplace based mostly.

These developments have all elevated from 2022 as properly. In 2022 we had fewer respondents who have been already absolutely distant (49 p.c) and fewer who chosen that they most well-liked a totally distant setup (56 p.c).

After a number of years the place the hybrid work construction has been explored by many giant organizations, these outcomes might point out that the hybrid setup has not been working for distant staff they usually favor being absolutely distant or as shut to totally 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 p.c, the most important good thing about distant work is the pliability in how they spend their time, for 19 p.c it’s the pliability to dwell the place they select, and for 13 p.c it’s the pliability to decide on their work location.

We’ve seen many examples of Buffer teammates embracing the pliability we provide to dwell and work in a different way they usually’ve discovered loads of happiness within the setup. One teammate has been a digital nomad ever since becoming a member of the workforce.

This flexibility lends itself in a different way to everybody and we’ve seen different teams like mother and father use distant work to arrange their schedules to work higher for his or her households as properly.

4. One in three distant staff studies staying residence too actually because they don’t have a cause 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 have been the most important challenges for distant staff adopted by loneliness, we noticed loneliness spike in 2020, after which not having the ability to unplug led the best way in each 2021 and 2022 with loneliness as a detailed second.

This 12 months, we added an choice to the survey that we had seen spoken about on-line and in our personal circles with regards to struggles with working remotely — “I keep residence too actually because I don’t have a cause to go away.” This selection ended up being the most definitely response with 33 p.c of respondents deciding on it as a battle that they’ve. When requested about their largest battle from the record, staying residence too typically remained within the lead with 21 p.c of distant staff deciding on it.

The following most chosen battle for distant staff was loneliness, with 23 p.c of distant staff deciding on it total and 15 p.c of distant staff deciding on it as their high 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 staff discover work boundaries necessary however are solely reasonably profitable with setting them

Whereas 71 p.c of respondents say it’s crucial to set work boundaries, distant staff are solely reasonably profitable.

Eighty-one p.c of distant staff declare to examine work emails outdoors of labor hours, together with 63 p.c who accomplish that on weekends and 34 p.c whereas on trip. One other 48 p.c say they steadily work outdoors of conventional work hours, and 44 p.c of distant staff say they’ve labored extra this 12 months in comparison with final 12 months. Lastly, 22 p.c report not having the ability to unplug as their largest problem with distant work.

Organizations and leaders have a task to play in work boundaries as properly by making certain 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 a way we talk on Slack at Buffer.

6. Distant staff are cut up on if profession progress is tougher remotely, but it surely’s trending towards simpler

In 2022’s report, we added a query to be taught extra about profession progress for distant staff — a trending subject on the time as some claimed distant work could be detrimental to anybody’s profession. In that report, 45 p.c of respondents mentioned that distant work did make profession progress tougher, simply 14 p.c mentioned distant work made profession progress simpler, and the remaining 41 p.c mentioned it had no influence.

This 12 months, we requested the query once more, and we acquired a really completely different response. We noticed an enormous enhance within the quantity of people that chosen that distant work made profession progress simpler — from 14 p.c to 36 p.c. We additionally noticed the group that discovered profession progress tougher lower from 45 p.c in 2022 to twenty-eight p.c in 2023.

These developments are total constructive, as distant staff are both saying profession progress is simpler or that distant work has no influence on their profession progress. The tip outcomes although are nonetheless cut up with 28 p.c discovering profession progress tougher whereas distant and 36 p.c discovering it simpler.

The group who discover distant work simpler for his or her profession progress have been most definitely to pick that the explanation they felt that was that they have been measured on their output and influence as an alternative of their time within the workplace, in addition to the truth that all workers are on a stage enjoying area as a result of they’re all distant. Profession frameworks is usually 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 spanking new alternatives, in addition to as a result of they don’t know how one can promote their very own success they usually really feel disregarded of natural conversations. This final one hints at a spot between absolutely distant staff and hybrid staff — and after we regarded into that hole it was there. Individuals who chosen that they work hybrid and workplace occasional or hybrid and workplace first have been extra more likely to choose that distant work was tougher than their absolutely distant or hybrid and distant first counterparts.

The sensation that profession progress is tougher for hybrid staff is probably another excuse that distant staff favor to not work in a hybrid setup until it’s distant first.

7. Distant staff really feel related to their colleagues, and are extra energized and engaged

One other criticism is that distant staff don’t really feel related to their colleagues and aren’t engaged at work. We will show this isn’t true.

From our survey, 75 p.c of distant staff really feel related to their colleagues, despite the fact that a majority of the respondents work throughout time zones. Greater than half of respondents (58 p.c) mentioned that they really feel engaged about their job, in comparison with 30 p.c who’re unengaged.

One other constructive indicator on this entrance, in comparison with a 12 months in the past, virtually half of distant staff say they’re feeling extra energized. Twenty-one p.c report feeling burnt out and 31 p.c report no change.

Total, this report has felt like a powerful indicator of the steadiness of distant work in right now’s office. Many distant staff say that their firm is completely permitting some type of distant work, and distant work’s advantages appear to outweigh the struggles as distant staff proceed to need to work remotely for the remainder of their careers.

What would you like us to ask about subsequent 12 months? Send us a tweet or pop into our group.