“Work from Anywhere” (WFA) is the new buzzword in employment. Global directory of flexible companies Flexa recently published their Flexible Working Index in April 2023. Through their findings, they have gained insight into the working style preferences of workers as summer approaches.
The company releases the index each quarter, which is done by analysing the preferences of job seekers in the last three months. In short, as summer approaches, there has been a renewed interest in jobseekers seeking employment that offer remote roles – or “Work from Anywhere”.
READ: New Ethnicity Pay Gap Report Published
Flexible Working Index April 2023
Workers and jobseekers are now preferring roles that will allow them to work remotely from their chosen location. From January to March 2023, there has been a rise of 21% in searches for roles that are “fully remote”. Compared to all searches, searches for “fully remote” roles comprised 48% of searches in January and rose to 58% in March.
This seems to be a likely trend due to the seasons, when the search for remote roles fell in the autumn of last year reaching an all-time low in December 2022.
“Work From Anywhere” (WFA) is described as a scheme where employees can work outside their usual jurisdiction at a certain period. For WFA offerings, the search for them has doubled this past quarter – which has risen from 7% to 15% from January to March.
On the employer side, the trend shows that they are more likely to offer “remote” first roles instead of fully remote. This means that employees will be able to work remotely on most days but will also be given the option to work at an office space on set or flexible days.
For remote-first roles, the listings rose from 14% to 19% between January to March 2023. However, jobseekers are not searching for them as much as WFA roles as they are less familiar with the term. The searches for “remote-first” roles dropped by 10% in the past quarter.
Ultimately, summer has become the main driver of workers seeking WFA roles. Jobseekers are now looking for opportunities that will allow them to maximise their holidays, weekends and time off in general.
CEO and co-founder of Flexa, Molly Johnson-Jones, described the numbers from the last quarter as “record numbers” for individuals seeking flexible roles. This has then driven employers to adapt to the trend and preferences of job seekers. Further, the seasonal trends shown have provided a pattern that can be used for both job seekers and employers to adapt to seasonal changes.
READ: Seven in 10 Women Feel Anxious About Negotiating Pay, Study Finds
Work from Anywhere and Working from Home in the UK
In the UK, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has provided data surrounding remote working, specifically Working from Home (WFH). Based on the data provided, 16% of adults are doing only WFH while 28% adopt a hybrid working style.
Among the workers, those who are in the highest income band as well as degree-level educated workers in professional occupations are more likely to adopt WFH. Self-employed workers are also twice as likely to do WFH only compared to employees. Further, workers residing in London reported the highest level of hybrid working across Great Britain.