Remote working employees have long threatened to quit rather than return to physical offices as the pandemic began easing and the first whispers of a return-to-office (RTO) began to circulate. But now, new research has shown that the majority of those threats were in fact not merely lip service. According to Remote Worker CEO Joseph Boll, the new data shows just how much of a costly mistake RTO is proving to be.

Remote Worker is an online jobs board and resource website for remote workers, remote work jobseekers, and hiring managers, employers and HR personnel seeking to recruit and hire the top talent for remote positions.

“Remote Worker has long cautioned of the dangers of forcing employees to return to the office,” said Boll. “Not only does remote work come with tons of benefits for employers and employees alike, but actually doubling down and insisting on going back to the old way of working is actively harming your organization. Now, new research is showing that of the companies that enforced return-to-office policies, more than 50 percent saw an increase in turnover, and while turnovers cost businesses millions of dollars this year alone, you are actually losing money by refusing to evolve with the modern workforce.”

Notably, companies that did not enforce RTO and that continue to work remotely did not report the same challenge with high turnovers, which is not surprising given that American workers have consistently rated remote work as the job environment of choice throughout the year. Research undertaken by job search giants like LinkedIn and Indeed Hiring Labs have found that while remote jobs only make up a fraction of job postings, they attract the most applicants — and therefore the widest talent pool — by a long shot. Given the highly competitive labour market, considering labour shortages and an ongoing Great Resignation, offering remote work is not only a way for companies to win the “war for talent” but to actually prevent themselves from sinking under on the whole. The stakes are even higher considering that some experts believe the “Great Resignation” is more of a “Great Reshuffling” as employees do not leave the workforce but instead leave one employer to work for another that is offering better benefits.

“Some jobs simply cannot be done online, and there’s no getting around that,” Boll noted. “But the pandemic has proven that a vast majority of jobs can be successfully done online, and with a world of benefits at that. Companies that decide against taking that route have to ask themselves whether whatever that reason is, is really worth dealing with so many downsides in this current labour environment.”

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About Remote Worker (US)
Remote Worker is designed to help hiring managers and businesses connect with job-seeking professionals for remote work positions. We are affiliated with Remote Worker (UK), ClickJobs.io and Caribbean Employment Services Inc. For more information, visit https://www.remoteworker.jobs or contact [email protected].