Looking for a Remote Job? A New Survey Says It Could Be Harder to Find Than You Think. Most people want to work remotely, but a "frozen" labor market is limiting their choices.
By Sherin Shibu Edited by Jessica Thomas
Key Takeaways
- The majority of workers want to work remotely, but remote employment and job postings are declining.
- Meanwhile, the labor market is frozen, with the hiring rate stuck at 3.4%, one of its lowest points in the past decade.
Though more than 60% of job-seekers expressed a strong desire to work remotely, according to a ZipRecruiter economic research study, remote employment is becoming less common now than it was at the height of the pandemic.
LinkedIn's latest Workforce Confidence survey, released earlier this week, shows that the rate of remote work in the U.S. has dropped from 46% of all employees in October 2020 to 26% this February.
Meanwhile, within the same span of time, the number of onsite employees has increased from 39% to 55%, while the percentage of hybrid workers has slightly risen from 12% to 16%.
LinkedIn surveyed more than 400,000 U.S. professionals on its platform from Oct. 5, 2020, to Feb. 21, 2025, to deliver the findings.
Remote job postings have declined, too. Indeed data showed that in 2024, the portion of remote job postings declined in 46% of all sectors.
The shift from remote to onsite and hybrid work occurs amid a frozen job market for white-collar workers, or professionals who perform desk, managerial or administrative work in an office setting. According to a Harris Poll survey for Bloomberg News released on Friday, the majority of Americans (70%) believe they would have trouble finding a job better than their current one, with the percentage jumping to 80% of Gen Z workers born between 1997 and 2012.
Three in four respondents to the poll said that employers had more leverage in the job market than employees. Nearly half stated that they felt stuck or were falling behind in their current job, indicating a lack of growth opportunities and support at work.
Bloomberg reports that the hiring rate for all workers is 3.4%, one of its lowest points in the past decade, while The Wall Street Journal notes that job openings are down 8.6% year over year. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released this month shows that more Americans than ever, nearly nine million, are working multiple jobs to make ends meet.
Related: These Are the Highest-Paying Jobs Best Suited for Introverts, According to a New Report
EY senior economist Lydia Boussour called the U.S. labor market "frozen, but robust" following a January jobs report showing that the U.S. economy added 143,000 jobs in January, below forecasts of 170,000 jobs.
"Business executives continue to rein in hiring but are still holding off on layoffs as they navigate a more uncertain economic and policy environment," she told BIZ Experiences at the time.
