Poll: 1 in 3 Americans won’t consider a new job without remote option

One of the biggest changes that the pandemic brought to the life of the American worker is the ability to work from home and Americans are holding on to that new luxury.

A new survey by OnePoll on behalf of Rippling shows that more than a third of American workers say they wouldn’t even consider a new job unless it includes the remote option.

According to the data, more than three-quarters of Americans have found pleasure in the little things, including more frequent coffee or snack breaks (54%), extra family time (51%), a more relaxed dress code (50%) and more comfortable seating (50%).

Americans still want to be in the office sometimes, however, and 39% of respondents said they preferred a hybrid work environment compared to 24% who prefer working completely remotely. Of those asked, individuals working in tech or computer science are more likely to want to stay in a hybrid role (50%) compared to individuals working in arts and entertainment who signaled they’d rather be completely in-office (54%).

Although Americans rave about the comforts and convenience of remote work, many also stated that it has become more difficult to maintain communication with peers and managers (48%) and to maintain a work-life balance (44%).

“For the foreseeable future, companies will need to find ways to support a distributed workforce, but it’s still a heavy lift for many organizations,” said Rippling’s VP of Human Resources Christine Maxwell in a statement.

“For example, oftentimes companies struggle to onboard a remote employee, whether it’s sending them a computer or enrolling them in the proper benefits. This survey makes clear that companies need to adapt and find modern solutions to support their workforce.”

But the so-called Great Resignation has also brought on great expectations for American workers who are less willing to put up with unattractive work environments and employers are struggling to keep up.

“Companies must continue to adjust to this new normal and catch up to the new needs within a business. It’s a struggle for companies to simply collect a laptop when a remote employee departs the company. That didn’t exist when everyone was in the office five days a week,” adds Maxwell.

“Today businesses can automatically store, ship and retrieve employee computers with a click of a button. There are dozens of different problems that you can easily automate, and taken together, improve the experience for your employees and make a significant impact on the business.”