Time to Reset Your Expectations on Remote Work

I'm not saying that Remote work is dead... but it's not looking too good.

As a result of the pandemic, many people got a taste of the fully remote lifestyle and fell in love. I can appreciate all the benefits that come with working remotely and the desire to do so.

Unfortunately, for those who insist on remote only work, companies are moving away from this model. Many have initiated some sort of Return to Office (RTO) mandate... whether it be fully on-site or hybrid. We've seen the news stories and announcement memos. But we are also seeing it on the job boards.

In fact, as of March 7th, 2023, out of a total 348,000 Canadian job postings via LinkedIn, only 3% of those were indicated to be fully remote!

Now, I understand that many of these jobs will include those that are impossible to be done remotely (retail, labour, restaurants, etc)... so let's go one step further and look at Software Developer job postings in Canada, a position notoriously argued to be done fully remote. Of the 19,363 job posts that came up for Software Developer, only 9% were indicated to be fully remote.

What does this mean for candidates?

If you fell in love with Remote work, you are definitely not alone. For those seeking remote work, your competition will be high! That means if you are an active job seeker and insist on finding that fully remote role, you are going to be going up some stiff competition. Adjusting your expectations might prove to be fruitful. With nearly double the amount of roles offered as Hybrid, searching out these opportunities will greatly increase your chances of finding your next employment.

An obvious challenge with hybrid jobs, is that you are limited to your local companies. This will also impact your reach, but will greatly reduce your competition.

Looking at the Greater Toronto Area, the numbers for these Software Developer roles do look better for remote workers, but still a large number of companies are requiring some level of on-site work.

Why am I telling you this?

As a Recruiter, our job is to help candidates set proper expectations in their job search. If you've been struggling to find that fully remote role, it might be time to reevaluate and adjust your parameters.

You obviously would have noticed a large number of these job posts are indicated as "Unspecified". Looking into some of these postings, it's pretty clear that companies that are hiring fully remote roles ensure they advertise as such in their postings... so of these unspecified jobs, you can make a pretty broad, yet accurate, assumption that many are not remote.

Do I think remote work will ever return like it did in 2020?

In my opinion, no.

As I predicted towards the end of 2022, I continue to believe that the Hybrid work model will increase in popularity in the coming years. I am confident remote work is here to stay, and will settle somewhere above pre-pandemic levels.

I wish everyone the best of luck in their job search and truly do hope you find a position that fits your lifestyle.

Signed,

Jesse