Efforts to create and maintain a more diverse workforce thrived during the pandemic, largely thanks to flexible work arrangements like remote work, work-from-home and work-from-anywhere.

Countless studies have shown the many benefits of remote work and other flexible job arrangements on factors like daily savings, employee satisfaction, productivity and more. But research also found that minority workers, and especially those in a visible minority, far preferred working from home to working in-person, where microaggressions and other unpleasant social behaviors in the workplace were hard to ignore or escape.

In fact, some minority workers said they felt they were taken more seriously when working remotely than when working in-person, where they would often be judged or have their credentials undermined because of their appearance. Other research found that workers reported fewer instances of workplace bullying and yelling when working remotely. It makes sense, then, that remote work continues to be the most popular form of work in America, and abroad as well.

However, the fact that some companies continue insisting that workers return to office despite the popularity of remote work — and the fact that it has worked successfully for years now — raised questions about the future of DE&I (diversity, equity and inclusion) in the workplace. This is especially a concern as the Great Resignation or Great Reshuffling has not slowed but continues even as businesses gear up for a possible recession in the months ahead. Many American workers maintain that they would rather quit their jobs than return to office, and sites like LinkedIn and Indeed have found that remote jobs are attracting the vast majority of applicants in the labour market.

“The remote work tug-of-war could prove to be a setback for the progress of diversity in the workplace in recent years,” said Joseph Boll, CEO of Remote Worker, an online jobs board and resource website for remote workers, remote work jobseekers, and hiring managers, employers and HR personnel seeking to recruit and hire the top talent for remote positions.

Boll continued, “Thanks to remote work, businesses could hire the best talent from all over, and that helped with having a more diverse workforce since you could hire even beyond the candidates available in your business’ immediate area. I don’t think remote work will ever ‘end’, especially as more businesses come to terms with its almost endless list of benefits. But there is a concern about what less remote work could mean for diversity.”

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About Remote Worker (US)
Remote Worker is designed to help hiring managers and businesses connect with job-seeking professionals for remote work positions. We are affiliated with Remote Worker (UK), ClickJobs.io and Caribbean Employment Services Inc. For more information, visit https://www.remoteworker.jobs or contact [email protected].