Remote Work: How Much Salary Would Employees Give Up for It?

How much of their salary would employees give up for remote work – to keep the option of working from home? Quite a lot, as a recent study covered by Computerbild shows.

Before Covid, nobody would have predicted how important the home office would become. A study from the US now shows that many respondents are willing to accept financial sacrifices to continue using their own desk at home. That contradicts the plans of many German companies that want to bring employees back to the office – or even full-time.

Survey: less salary in exchange for home office is on the table

The research team led by Alexander Bartik, Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Illinois, surveyed more than 2,000 American office workers since the start of the pandemic: how much of your salary would you give up for the option to work remotely?

• 40% of respondents would give up at least 5% of their salary.
• One in five would be willing to give up 10%.
• One in ten even 20%.

Only in the 20% group were women in the majority. Otherwise there were hardly any differences between the genders. Co-author Zoë Cullen adds that they “found little difference between those who are the primary caregiver of a child and those who are not”.

Low performers aren’t the deciding factor

The study shows: those in favor are rarely so-called low performers. On the contrary – those most willing to give up salary are also those who are most productive in the home office. The researchers concluded that remote work would even increase productivity, provided employers give their teams the choice.

Instead of a pay cut, a healthy, productive and inspiring work environment would be the optimal solution for many employees – and that is exactly what our product & service delivers.