Need to Hire Workers in a Hot Job Market? Let Them Do Some Remote Work

livemint.com:

unemployment rate fell to 3.5% in July, the Labor Department said Friday. That is just a tick above a half-century low, showing a limited pool from which to hire. Wages grew a historically high 4.4% in July from a year earlier, well above prepandemic rates and another sign of workers’ strong bargaining power.

Many bosses soured on remote work last year, saying flexible arrangements harm productivity, and required workers to spend all or most of their time in the office. Flexible arrangements seen as equivalent to a raise The Scoop analysis showed that head counts at firms allowing at least one day of remote work increased 5% in May 2023 from June 2022, while those at fully in-person companies gained 2.6%, on average. “One of the more straightforward potential explanations is that people put a really high value on being remote and generally having flexibility, so recruitment is likely quite a bit easier," said Emma Harrington, a University of Virginia economist.

Separate research also shows that workers view hybrid work arrangements as equal to an 8% pay increase, said Nicholas Bloom, a Stanford economics professor. When Cassandra Wilander began a job search last year in Chicago, she rejected listings that required her to be in the office five days a week. “To me that just screams that they don’t respect work-life balance and won’t be flexible with my time," the 37-year-old said.

She ultimately accepted a hybrid job last September as a marketing communications strategist at a commercial real-estate firm. After working remotely during the pandemic, Wilander didn’t want to return to a daily commute to downtown Chicago on the “L" train, which she said can be unreliable and at times felt unsafe. Instead, she wanted a job that