The number of fully remote jobs advertised in the UK fell for the eighth month in a row in December, reflecting employers’ determination for staff to be in the office for at least some of the week.
However, while companies are rowing back from remote working practices adopted in lockdown, workers remain keen to avoid the daily commute.
In December, 11 per cent of new job postings were for remote roles, according to data from LinkedIn, the networking site, down from 15.8 per cent at the end of 2021. The proportion of at-home jobs advertised has fallen every month since May and is at its lowest level since LinkedIn began collecting data in September 2021, shortly after the last of the UK’s pandemic restrictions were lifted.
The number of people searching for remote jobs outstrips supply, attracting almost 21 per cent of applications last month. Home-working is estimated to have peaked this time last year, when one in six job vacancies were remote.
LinkedIn suggested in the autumn that the “balance of power [is] shifting to employers”, who have had little choice but to acquiesce to workers’ demands over the past couple of years, such was the competition for talent. Nearly all the big recruiters have seen hiring start to slow in recent months amid the uncertain economic outlook.
Ngaire Moyes, LinkedIn’s UK country manager, said “we have passed ‘peak remote’ ” — but cautioned against employers insisting staff return full time.
“We see nearly double the amount of applications for every remote role in the UK, and we know from our research that more than a third of UK workers would be prepared to quit their job if told to return to the office full time,” she said.
Despite the drop in fully remote roles, recruiters have suggested that companies are still happy letting staff work from home for part of the week.
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