Work-From-Home Is Here to Stay, But Finding Remote Jobs Is Tough

New York: So, it looks like some companies are calling folks back to the office and hiring for in-person jobs. But guess what? A lot of Americans are still working from home at least part of the week.

It seems like if you want to keep that work-from-home vibe, you might want to hold on to your current job. Big names like Amazon, AT&T, and JPMorgan are telling their employees they need to be back in the office five days a week this year. This shift is happening just as the number of remote and hybrid job postings is dropping, making it trickier to land one of those gigs.

As of November, remote job postings on Indeed fell to 7.8%, down from over 10% in 2022. LinkedIn showed a similar trend, with remote postings dropping to about 21% in December, down from 26% two years ago.

But don’t count remote work out just yet! In December, around 23% of U.S. workers were still working from home at least part-time, which is up from about 19% two years ago. About 10% were fully remote.

Nicholas Bloom, an economist from Stanford, mentioned that while some companies are pushing for in-person work, others are still allowing their employees to work from home. His research shows that the number of full days worked from home has stayed pretty steady over the last couple of years, bouncing between 25% and 30%.

Economists believe that while some companies are focusing on in-person hires, they’re still letting some existing employees keep their flexible arrangements. This way, they can boost office attendance without upsetting those who enjoy working from home.

Julia Pollak from ZipRecruiter pointed out that companies often make exceptions for current employees to keep them from leaving, which means new hires might face stricter return-to-office rules.

So, if you’re already in a job with flexible work, you might be safe. But snagging a new remote or hybrid role could be a bit tougher. Kory Kantenga from LinkedIn noted that companies are using new job openings to dial back on flexible work, but they’re not necessarily doing that for current employees.

Even if more businesses are leaning towards in-person hiring, it might take a while for work-from-home rates to drop significantly. Lisa Simon from Revelio Labs explained that hiring and layoffs have slowed down, meaning not many people have switched jobs recently.

The small number of remote jobs available might be a bit misleading. Simon mentioned that a slowdown in hiring for white-collar roles, where flexible work is more common, could be affecting those job postings.

Plus, some companies might not want to advertise flexible work in their job postings, even if they’re open to it later. Bloom added that for certain roles, like university professors, working from home is just part of the job, even if it’s not labeled as remote in the posting.

Pollak also noted that remote roles often don’t show up in job postings as much because they usually have lower turnover compared to in-person jobs.

So, has your boss asked you to come into the office more often? If so, feel free to reach out to the reporter at jzinkula@businessinsider.com.