03.06.2022
REMOTE AND HYBRID JOBS ATTRACT 7 TIMES MORE CANDIDATES
Even now, as pandemic restrictions ease and more people return to the office, flexible and remote jobs are becoming more popular than ever, CNBC Make It reports.
A new study by CareerBuilder found that jobs that allow employees to work from home full-time or part-time received seven times more applications last month than attendance positions. The jobs cover industries and levels of experience: the tax manager, the Spanish teacher and the therapist were among the most popular positions, informs infostock.bg.
"People are not going back to work the way they were in the past," said Christine Kelly, chief marketing officer of CareerBuilder. "Flexibility is the new norm and the expectations of employees - we will see this trend continue in the coming months."
What are the factors that determine this jump in the number of flexible job applications and how companies should react?
People do not want to return to the office full time
As coronavirus cases continue to decline dramatically in the United States, several companies, including the TIAA, American Express and Twitter, announced changed dates for returning to the office in March.
However, most Americans working from home would continue to do so if given the opportunity. According to a Pew Research survey of 5,889 workers in January, 61% of people who work remotely say they don't go to the office because they don't want to, citing a better work-life balance and productivity.
Some people would rather leave than travel to work again: a recent Morning Consult survey of 400 workers found that nearly 50% of people would consider leaving work if their employer asked them to come to the office before feel safe.
So it is no coincidence that we are seeing a jump in the number of applications for remote and flexible work at the same time as more companies are returning to the office.
"After two years of working from home, employers want to leave Covid-19 behind," says Kelly. "But that doesn't mean employees want to go back to work full-time."
Flexible work can lead to better career opportunities
The continuing search for remote and hybrid jobs also comes from workers in the service sector, who are refusing to look for higher wages and flexible schedules.
In January, the services sector lost the most jobs (274,000), led by the leisure and hotel business, which cut 154,000 jobs, according to the ADP National Employment Report. Although employment increased slightly last month (179,000 new jobs have emerged in the leisure and hotel business), employment in the sector is still well below pre-pandemic levels.
"People working in retail, hotels or restaurants are realizing that their skills - customer service, communication, time management - are shifting to different industries and are more in demand than ever in this narrow labor market," said Kelly.
A customer service representative, administrative assistant and sales representative are among the most sought after flexible jobs among applicants, according to CareerBuilder. "Job seekers feel better able to look for opportunities outside the industry in which they have worked for years," Kelly added.
What can companies do?
Kelly says that in order to better attract and retain talent, companies need to pay more attention to employee engagement and less attention to job offers.
"The contract signing bonus or extra time off can attract people to work, but how do you communicate with employees and meet their needs once they are hired?" she explains.
Employee engagement can include mentoring programs, virtual team lunches, or "mid-term interviews" (a tool organizations use to assess why their (high-performing) employees stay with them), among other initiatives. "Now is the time for companies to be much more practical, communicative and creative in communicating with their employees," says the specialist.
