Majority of Americans View Working Remotely as a Career Risk

(Bloomberg) — Americans like the option of working from home, but are increasingly concerned about the costs.

More than half of Americans said remote work is detrimental to career advancement, according to a nationally representative survey conducted for Bloomberg News by the Harris Poll. Even among remote workers, 50% said it hurt career progression. The figure was 57% for hybrid workers.

These views appear to be pushing employees back to the office. Some 52% of hybrid workers, for instance, said they returned to the office because of concerns about either layoffs or career advancement. Among remote staff, more than 50% said they worried that not being in the office makes them vulnerable to job cuts and hurts chances for promotions.

“Our Peter Pan relationship with remote working is coming to an end,” said John Gerzema, chief executive officer of the Harris Poll. He noted that while Americans expressed confidence in their ability to work remotely, polling indicated a strong awareness of its “hidden penalties.”

Four years after Covid-19 shut down offices across the US, the tug-of-war between remote and in-person work is reaching a pivotal point. With the white-collar labor market cooling, layoffs targeting remote staff and companies scaling back their work-from-home policies, power has shifted back to employers who want workers in the office. Employees, meanwhile, are waking up to the reality that their future career advancement will depend at least in part on showing up in person.

“There are people who now recognize, ‘If I want to advance in my career, that’s going to entail being in person,’” said Ariel Schur, chief executive officer of the boutique recruitment firm ABS Staffing Solutions in New York. “Employees were in the driver’s seat. Now it’s shifted. It’s a different landscape and people realize that.”

Back To Office 

It’s been a frustrating shift for employees who discovered a wide array of benefits to flexible work. In the Harris poll, 63% of employed Americans said they would prefer to work remotely in some capacity if it were up to them. Three in five said remote work helps address inequalities in the workplace. Respondents also said there were significant benefits for women, people of color and working parents. In addition, 59% of respondents said remote work is most helpful to middle-class Americans, versus 27% who said it is most helpful for the rich.

While working from home, many employees report multitasking for a better work-life balance. Almost 70% of Americans said that as long as workers get their work done, it shouldn’t matter if they do chores while on the clock. Less than a fifth of those managing remote or hybrid employees think it’s inappropriate to do non-work tasks during the workday.

Americans Multitask While Working From Home |

Evolving Norms 

Despite the recent shift back in-person work, many companies have embraced hybrid schedules and remote options to attract and retain talent. And firms will continue to seek a “happy medium”  according to Michael Steinitz, senior executive director at staffing firm Robert Half.

In this  context, New York-based executive coach Michael Urtuzuástegui Melcher says it’s crucial for employees to focus on the fact that the workplace is a constantly evolving, dynamic place.

“What felt very real 18 months ago may not be real right now,” he says. “There’s no point in staking your career on something that isn’t.”

This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by The Harris Poll from February 16th 18th, 2023, among a nationally representative sample of 2,066 U.S. adults, where 268 identified as remote employees, 246 as hybrid, and 669 as in-person.

Most Read from Bloomberg

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.