In New Salary.com Survey 83% of Employees Say They’d Leave their Job If Compensated Less for Working Remotely

By HRTech News Desk On Jun 23, 2021

Employees want to maintain the option to work remotely post-pandemic and will not tolerate being compensated less for remote work, according to new survey data from Salary.com. The Remote Work & Compensation Pulse Survey of both employees and employers, conducted in May 2021, found 48% percent of employees want to be fully remote and 44% want a hybrid work model. The hybrid work model has support among 51% of employers surveyed, though there is a big divide when it comes to fully remote work, with only 5% of employers saying that will be an option. Another red flag: 92% of employers have no formal practice in place for determining pay for partially remote employees; 72% have no formal practice in place for determining pay for fully remote employees.

Compensation Adjustments for Remote Employees

While generally there has been speculation that employers would decrease pay for fully remote employees going forward, the Salary.com data shows otherwise. An overwhelming majority (95%) of employers said they would not lower compensation for employees who continue, or transition to, working remotely. This is a critical point, given that 83% of employees said they would leave their job if compensated less for working remotely. A vast majority of employees (94%) believe they should be compensated based on their skill set, not their location.

The same strategy applies to partially remote employees, with 97% of employers indicating they will not lower an employee’s compensation if they continue, or transition to, working partially remote. For those that would adjust compensation, 21% would adjust salary with employee contribution, geographic location, and concerns about culture as contributing factors.

“Remote work translates into a more fluid, and potentially volatile, market for how employees move from company to company,” said David Cross, Senior Compensation Consultant for Salary.com. “This double-edged sword not only means that there’s a broader selection of talent from which to hire, but that there is also an increased retention risk to the current workforce. Employers recognize that rewards need to not only reflect and attract these skills into the business, but to retain those skills of their existing employees.”