By Katie Merritt, Senior Research and Data Manager, Robert HalfEmployers facing hiring challenges in today’s labor market may want to consider offering flexible work arrangements. If they already do, stepping up their efforts to promote that fact could help them attract top talent. Research for Robert Half’s Demand for Skilled Talent report found that 40% of U.S. job seekers are interested in a fully remote position, and 33% would like a hybrid role.It’s easy to understand — and relate to — professionals’ top reasons for wanting flexibility in where they work. More than three-quarters of the workers surveyed (78%) for the Demand for Skilled Talent report said they prefer flexible work arrangements so they can save time and money on commuting. And 61% said they can more easily accommodate personal commitments.The benefits of hiring remote and hybrid workers are also clear for employers. In addition to accessing a wider talent pool and potentially attracting more skilled applicants for jobs, offering flexible work can help boost retention. In another Robert Half survey, 44% of workers who aren’t looking for jobs right now said it is because they don’t want to lose the level of flexibility they have in their current role.
Where can today’s job seekers find the most opportunities for flexible work? Research for the Demand for Skilled Talent report provides insight. We examined industries that Robert Half supports with our talent solutions to determine which ones have the highest rates of new hybrid and remote jobs.
Here’s a breakdown of our findings based on data from Oct. 1 – Dec. 31, 2023:– Marketing and creative: 25% hybrid, 13% remote– Finance and accounting: 25% hybrid, 10% remote– Technology: 22% hybrid, 17% remote– Legal: 21% hybrid, 5% remote – Human resources: 18% hybrid, 9% remote– Administrative and customer support: 12% hybrid, 10% remote– Healthcare: 5% hybrid, 5% remote
Our analysis of the new hybrid and remote jobs created in Q4 2023 shows that flexible work arrangements are more common for senior-level roles, but there are opportunities for mid-level and entry-level professionals, too.Newly created hybrid and remote jobs — by experience level*– Senior-level (5 or more years of experience): 39%– Mid-level (3-5 years of experience): 31%– Entry-level (0-2 years of experience): 27%* Experience level refers to the years of relevant experience a job candidate has for a specific type of role. For example, a senior-level accountant would have five or more years of relevant experience in the accounting profession.
One of the most significant remote work trends that surfaced in our research for the Demand for Skilled Talent report is that employers offering flexible work options are creating more hybrid jobs than hiring for remote positions.
First, we found that new, fully in-office job postings declined in 2023 by 14 percentage points.Fully on-siteQ1 23: 83%Q2 23: 75%Q3 23: 71%Q4 23: 69%
Meanwhile, both hybrid and remote job postings increased in 2023.Hybrid (h) vs. remote (r)Q1 23: 9% (h) x 7% (r)Q2 23: 14% (h) x 10% (r)Q3 23: 20% (h) vs. 9% (r)Q4 23: 20% (h) vs. 11% (r)These findings suggest that employers are seeing value in offering flexible work options to employees. Our overall takeaway: The future of remote work in the United States is shifting toward hybrid.
Robert Half also analyzed data by geography to understand how hybrid and remote work trends are developing across the country.
We found that many employers in more rural states — where it can be challenging to find available local talent — are offering flexible work arrangements. The following states saw the highest percentages of hybrid and remote job postings in Q4 2023:Vermont: 44%Wyoming: 41%North Dakota: 40%Oregon: 39%West Virginia: 39%New Hampshire: 37%Among the more populated states that advertised over 10,000 jobs in Q4 2023, the states that offered the highest proportion of hybrid and remote work options were:Colorado: 35%Minnesota: 34%Washington: 33%Missouri: 32%Michigan: 32%Massachusetts: 31%We also conducted a city-specific analysis of hybrid and remote work trends. The top three cities where employers are creating new hybrid and remote jobs are Portland, Ore., San Francisco and Minneapolis.The cities where employers are least likely to advertise flexible work arrangements are Miami, Baltimore and Houston.And finally, among the 26 U.S. cities we included in our geographic analysis, these 12 locations had the most listings for hybrid positions.Portland, Ore.: 29%Boston: 28%San Francisco: 27%Minneapolis: 26%San Jose, Calif.: 26%Austin, Texas: 25%Chicago: 24%Seattle: 24%Washington, D.C.: 24%Cincinnati, Ohio: 23%New York: 23%St. Louis, Mo.: 23%
Robert Half’s Demand for Skilled Talent report lets you explore data on additional hiring and employment trends in the United States and offers tips on how to overcome hiring and retention challenges in the current labor market.
View the report now.
Robert Half can help your business source the best available professionals from virtually anywhere for contract and permanent roles.Contact us today to learn more.
Surveys were developed by Robert Half and conducted by independent research firms. Respondents included executives from small (20-99 employees), medium (100-999 employees) and large (1,000+ employees) businesses in private, publicly listed and public sector organizations across the United States.
Job postings provided by Textkernel and TalentNeuron and categorized into more than 450 job titles within Robert Half’s 2024 Salary Guide using a proprietary mapping methodology that employs state-of-the-art large language models. This dataset includes roles across the finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal, administrative and customer support, human resources, and healthcare support professions.
