Key Takeaways
- A new survey of nearly 1,400 U.S. tech workers found that many were willing to accept a 25% lower salary for jobs that were hybrid or fully remote.
- On average, these tech workers were 32 years old with almost seven years of experience.
- The study focused on high earners in the technology sector, with average job offers around $239,000 per year.
As companies like Amazon, JPMorgan and AT&T implement stricter return-to-office policies, a new study shows that technology workers will accept significantly less pay for positions that are hybrid or fully remote.
Researchers from Harvard, Brown and UCLA recently a study released showing that many tech workers were willing to give up a quarter of the salary they could have gotten for the chance to work remotely or in a hybrid setup instead of in-person.
The study, which surveyed 1,396 U.S. technology workers, mostly software engineers, product managers and data scientists, found that employees who accepted remote or hybrid roles agreed to a salary that was on average 25% lower than what they were offered for a comparable, fully in-person role.
Everyone in the study had received at least two job offers between May 2023 and December 2024, averaging about $239,000 per year, and had accepted one of the positions. On average, these tech workers were 32 years old and had almost seven years of experience.
Related: Hybrid employees were put to the test against employees who worked entirely in the office: here the winner emerged
UCLA professor of economics and co-author of the study Ricardo Perez-Truglia told The Wall Street Journal the average amount tech workers were willing to give up for remote or hybrid work was higher than expected.
Previous research has shown that the average employee is willing to accept a pay cut about 10% to work completely remotely. For example, a Youngstown State University survey of 1,000 working Americans in August found that in-person respondents said they would take an 11% pay cut for a remote or hybrid job.
“Our estimate is significantly higher,” Perez-Truglia and the other co-authors wrote in the study.
According to the researchers, the higher estimate of 25% likely comes down to two main reasons: First, the study specifically targeted high-earning technology workers, who may place extra value on remote options and be willing to trade more salary. Second, instead of using hypothetical survey questions as in other studies, the study analyzed real job offers that respondents received from major companies like Google, Meta and Apple. This means that these pay cuts actually occurred when people chose remote or hybrid roles over in-person positions.
Related: Walmart remote workers question return-to-office policy, some choosing to quit rather than move
Survey respondents also considered insights from Glassdoor, a site where current and former employees anonymously leave company reviews, when deciding where to work. Still, remote and hybrid work arrangements were ultimately more important in their decision-making, especially when it came to taking on a lower offer.
Furthermore, the survey found that there was little difference in the way employees felt about hybrid and fully remote jobs; fully remote features were only slightly more attractive. According to Perez-Truglia, the findings indicate that even offering employees one or two work-from-home days per week could influence their preferences and help companies attract top tech talent.
“It is clear that a compromise is possible,” Perez-Truglia told the newspaper WJ.
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Related: Looking for a remote job? A new study shows it’s harder to find than you think.
Key Takeaways
- A new survey of nearly 1,400 U.S. tech workers found that many were willing to accept a 25% lower salary for jobs that were hybrid or fully remote.
- On average, these tech workers were 32 years old with almost seven years of experience.
- The study focused on high earners in the technology sector, with average job offers around $239,000 per year.
As companies like Amazon, JPMorgan and AT&T implement stricter return-to-office policies, a new study shows that technology workers will accept significantly less pay for positions that are hybrid or fully remote.
Researchers from Harvard, Brown and UCLA recently a study released showing that many tech workers were willing to give up a quarter of the salary they could have gotten for the chance to work remotely or in a hybrid setup instead of in-person.
The study, which surveyed 1,396 U.S. technology workers, mostly software engineers, product managers and data scientists, found that employees who accepted remote or hybrid roles agreed to a salary that was on average 25% lower than what they were offered for a comparable, fully in-person role.
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