Ninety percent of senior executives expect to work remote, and 76 percent of U.S. companies say they are more likely to hire non-local talent.
In real estate and in work, it has always been about location, location, location.
Historically, the amount of time a person was willing to sit in traffic or on public transportation each morning and evening as they ferried back and forth to the office played a big role in deciding whether a job was the right fit. If a new role included an unmanageable commute, potential employees had two options: decline the offer or relocate their lives by uprooting their family—potentially selling and buying a home, changing the kids’ schools, finding new doctors and dentists and hair stylists—in the name of a new job.
The same location-based limits have been true of employers looking for new hires. If the employee with the right skillset combination couldn’t be found locally, that niche staffing need had to remain vacant while the hunt continued or, worse, it was quickly filled by the wrong hire as a stopgap. Proximity to work had the power to make or break a hiring agreement, but that limitation is fading.
Today, the hiring process is in the midst of a transformation. The COVID-19 era has changed the expectations of a workforce who is now well-versed in the pros and cons of working from home. Likewise, companies looking to hire employees have experienced the cost savings and productivity boost of working with a virtual, remote staff.
In a study conducted in March 2021 by recruitment agency Talent Works, new data shows the impacts of this pandemic-induced move to remote work.
Ninety percent of senior executives now expect to work from home and 76 percent of U.S. companies are more likely to hire out of city or out of state.
For starters, U.S. companies report they are giving more attention and resources to their hiring process. A significant 77 percent of employers have adjusted their Employee Value Proposition during the pandemic, while 16 percent plan to make more changes. These adjustments are certainly unique to each company culture and structure, but they are a vivid response to the fact that 70 percent of employers found it challenging to fill open positions with quality candidates during the pandemic. That eager search for a solution can be seen in 40 percent of U.S. companies surveyed who reported an increase in their recruitment budgets.
As they look beyond their locations, 76 percent of U.S. companies now say they are more likely to hire out of city or out of state. This paradigm shift aligns well with the new expectations of senior executives, 90% of whom now say they expect their employers to offer them a work-from-home lifestyle.
The in-person work environment is most certainly not extinct, but the demand that a company’s accumulated talent must always work under the same roof is certainly waning. There will be plenty of unexpected new normals in a post-pandemic world to watch for, but a workforce that is largely turning to a remote model no longer limited by location appears to already be reality.
