Job Switchers Accept Smaller Pay Increases to Take Remote Roles
Job Switchers Accept Smaller Pay Increases to Take Remote Roles
Workers in remote jobs generally earn more than those who work in the office, and get bigger raises, according to ZipRecruiter surveys of thousands of job seekers and newly hired workers conducted over the past year. And yet workers who are switching roles tend to get smaller raises when moving into remote roles than into office roles. Below are four facts about pay and work arrangements that have emerged from our recent research.
Four Facts about Pay and Remote Work
1. On average, remote workers earn more than those at in-person jobs.
Among more than 6,000 workers surveyed over the course of 2023 and hired in the six months prior to the surveys, workers taking fully in-person jobs earned $53,616, on average; hybrid workers earned $54,532; and fully remote workers earned $60,234. This is not because remote work in and of itself is worth more to employers, but rather because both pay and work arrangements are closely tied to occupations and industries. So-called knowledge workers—people who work at desks with computers and information—are much more likely both to be highly paid and to have access to remote work than cashiers, wait staff, caregivers, and other in-person workers.
| Pay and Work Arrangements Among Newly Hired Workers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| New Work Arrangement | Reported Average Annual Pay (2023) | ||
| Fully in-person | $53,616 | ||
| Hybrid | $56,532 | ||
| Fully Remote | $60,234 | ||
| Source: Averages across the four quarterly ZipRecruiter New Hires Surveys (NHS) conducted in 2023. The ZipRecruiter NHS is a nationally representative, quarterly survey of 1,500+ U.S. residents who are currently employed and started their jobs in the prior 6 months. It is fielded by ZipRecruiter, Inc., in the second month of each quarter. | |||
2. On average, remote job seekers also earn more than those at in-person jobs.
Among more than 6,000 job seekers surveyed over the course of 2023, those who currently or most recently worked in a fully in-person job earned $51,777, on average; those in hybrid jobs earned $54,302; and those in fully remote jobs earned $57,394. People seeking new jobs generally earn less than those landing new jobs, as one might expect. But the relationship between pay and work arrangements is the same within the population of job seekers, again because differences in both pay and work arrangements are largely driven by occupational differences.
| Pay and Work Arrangements Among Job Seekers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| New Work Arrangement | Reported Average Annual Pay (2023) | ||
| Fully in-person | $51,777 | ||
| Hybrid | $54,302 | ||
| Fully Remote | $57,394 | ||
| Source: Averages across the four quarterly ZipRecruiter Job Seeker Confidence Index (JSCI) surveys conducted in 2023. The ZipRecruiter quarterly JSCI, based on an online sample, is administered by Qualtrics on behalf of ZipRecruiter to 1,500+ job seekers in the second month of each quarter and weighted to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey. Respondents may be employed, unemployed, or not currently in the labor force, but must reside in the United States and have indicated a desire to find a new job "in the next six months" to participate in the survey. | |||
3. On average, job switchers entering remote roles earned larger pay increases than those entering in-person roles.
Across all workers surveyed, regardless of their prior work arrangements, those surveyed in 2023 about entering new remote roles tended to see larger pay increases than those entering hybrid or in-person roles. Again, the difference was driven by occupation.
| Pay Increases and Work Arrangements Among Newly Hired Workers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| New Work Arrangement | Reported Pay Increase (2023) | ||
| Fully in-person | 24.9% | ||
| Hybrid | 25.4% | ||
| Fully Remote | 28.2% | ||
| Source: Averages across the four quarterly ZipRecruiter New Hires Surveys (NHS) conducted in 2023. The ZipRecruiter NHS is a nationally representative, quarterly survey of 1,500+ U.S. residents who are currently employed and started their jobs in the prior 6 months. It is fielded by ZipRecruiter, Inc., in the second month of each quarter. | |||
4. On average, job switchers moving from remote roles to in-person roles received pay increases almost twice as high as those moving in the opposite direction.
Despite the fact that pay levels and pay increases were generally found to be higher for workers in remote roles, workers who were previously in fully in-person roles tended to receive higher raises when switching into fully in-person roles than when switching into fully remote roles. Similarly, workers who were previously in fully remote roles tended to receive higher raises when switching into fully in-person roles. That suggests that, within occupations, workers are requiring higher pay increases to take fully in-person jobs than fully remote jobs.
| Reported Pay Increase (Q4 2023) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| New work arrangement | |||
| Previous work arrangement | Fully in-person | Fully remote | |
| Fully in-person | 23.2% | 15.8% | |
| Fully remote | 29.2% | 22.1% | |
| Source: The ZipRecruiter Q4 2023 NHS is a nationally representative, quarterly survey of 1,500+ U.S. residents who were employed at the time of the survey and had started their jobs in the prior 6 months. It was fielded in November, 2023. | |||
Our surveys have repeatedly found that job seekers strongly prefer remote opportunities—so much so, that they would be willing to give up substantial amounts of pay to gain remote opportunities. We also find that remote job postings receive substantially more applications. The recruitment and retention benefits of remote work have translated into lower wage growth pressure for remote employers, but lingering staffing challenges and wage growth pressures in in-person occupations.
