SHRM Research Reveals Negative Perceptions of Remote Work

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — SHRM (the Society for Human Resource Management) released new research today that reveals negative perceptions of remote work, with supervisors expressing a preference for onsite staffing and remote workers expressing reservations about losing opportunities for networking and logging more hours.

More than two thirds of supervisors of remote workers surveyed by SHRM, or 67 percent, admit to considering remote workers more easily replaceable than onsite workers at their organization, 62 percent believe full-time remote work is detrimental to employees’ career objectives and 72 percent say they would prefer all of their subordinates to be working in the office.

While most employees agree remote work is beneficial and increases performance, more than half say working remotely on a permanent basis would diminish networking opportunities (59 percent), cause work relationships to suffer (55 percent) and require them to work more hours (54 percent).

“With COVID-19 forcing a leap to remote work in many sectors of our economy, and organizations struggling to determine the best workforce strategies post-pandemic, there’s one fact that can’t be ignored—remote work is not ideal for everyone,” said Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, SHRM's president and chief executive officer. “Remote work can offer benefits, but employers need to take a closer look at whether remote and onsite workers have the same opportunities and whether managers have the tools they need to be effective leaders.”

Other key findings from SHRM’s surveys of supervisors and workers include:

• Fifty-one percent of remote workers say they spent between $100 and $499 on equipment or furniture needed to work remotely.
• Sixty-one percent of remote workers who spent money on equipment or furniture paid for it out of pocket.
• Sixty-seven percent of supervisors say they spend more time supervising remote workers than onsite workers.
• Forty-two percent of supervisors say they sometimes forget about remote workers when assigning tasks.
• Thirty-four percent of remote workers say working remotely on a permanent basis would reduce the number of career opportunities available.
• Twenty-nine percent of remote workers say they will have fewer developmental opportunities while working remotely.

Although women and men have similar responses on most of the ways their career will be impacted by remote work, there are some areas that differed. For example, women (23 percent) were more likely to indicate that they will not have the opportunity to form strong work relationships compared to men working remotely (18 percent).

“These results raise the question of who’s really winning with remote work,” said Taylor. “HR and business leaders need to answer this question to ensure they are able to attract and retain top talent and build an equitable workplace where everyone has the ability to succeed.”

Methodology: A sample of 817 supervisors was surveyed online July 16-19. A sample of 1,004 working Americans were surveyed online during the same period. A sample of 1,500 women who work remotely was surveyed online June 16 -18. A sample of 1,363 men who work remotely was surveyed online June 18-21. Respondents who selected neutral responses were excluded from analysis. Respondents were sourced from Lucid.

About SHRM
SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management, creates better workplaces where employers and employees thrive together. As the voice of all things work, workers and the workplace, SHRM is the foremost expert, convener and thought leader on issues impacting today's evolving workplaces. With 300,000+ HR and business executive members in 165 countries, SHRM impacts the lives of more than 115 million workers and families globally. Learn more at SHRM.org and on Twitter @SHRM.