The 10 Top Remote Work Trends That Will Dominate 2023

By staying on top of the latest remote work trends, you can plan accordingly and make sure that you get the most out of this shift in how we work and live.

What can we expect? And what remote work trends will be most important in 2023 and beyond? Read on to learn about the most essential ones and how they might affect your business and life.

Freedom Will Be The New “Perk”

While businesses still are struggling to define policies for remote work, employees are pushing for more flexibility. Many don’t want to return to the office after having experienced the benefits with a location independent lifestyle, at least not following a traditional 9-5 model.

In 2023, we’ll see more companies tweaking their remote work policies based on learnings over the past years. For these to be effective, employees must have a say based on their needs and understanding of how to be their best at home and at work. More trust and flexibility will be necessary to boost employee morale and reduce turnover.

Rather than free pizza and beer on Fridays, employees want more time, freedom and flexibility. 

More Data Proving The Benefits Of Remote Work = More Opportunities Than Ever 

With proven benefits of remote work, such as cost savings, increased productivity, boosted happiness, and a positive environmental impact, it’s clear that the acceptance of remote work is here to stay. Many employers, including leading brands such as Google, Spotify, and LinkedIn, will continue to embrace flexibility, remote positions, and in general a more remote-friendly mindset.

The list of remote-only companies is expected to grow, so 2023 will likely present more location-independent opportunities than ever before.

Creative Ways To Follow Up On Employee Well-Being Will Be Introduced 

The shift to working remotely has impacted everyone in different ways and organizations are still figuring out how to best support the well-being of their employees.

To tackle remote work challenges, such as loneliness, and better understand their employees, holistic wellness will become a key metric for companies. Ranging from financial and mental health to physical well-being. Significant investments into new health benefits, communication plans, and technologies are expected to further improve employee wellness. And as a result, performance and retention. The number of mental health startups and creative meet-ups/check-ins to include remote workers will continue to increase.

New Remote Work Policies (And Start-Ups To Help You Tackle Challenges) To Be Launched  

Who has access to flexible work? What about taxes and insurance? What happens when employees move to locations with a lower cost of living? Should their compensation be reduced even though the impact of their work hasn’t changed? What if it’s the other way around?

While the work structure becomes more flexible, the supporting functions, such as for example tax systems, aren’t keeping the same pace. Businesses will need to address how to approach all these new questions that don’t have any straightforward answers. In fact, this will be one of the top priorities for HR executives this year.

More cool start-ups specialized in different areas, from professional match-making based on personality and AI to tax management, will also enter the market.

Managerial Responsibilities Will Evolve

As not swinging by the office as often (or never) turns the new normal, the manager role will become even more essential. As managers are the primary connection through which hybrid and remote employees experience their employer and can solve any potential issues, their relationship will be more important than ever.

As advanced technology help replace many repeatable managerial tasks, ranging from simple things like scheduling, to more sophisticated ones like providing feedback, managers will have more time to cultivate relationships with their employees. This will go beyond reviewing responsibilities and cover the bigger picture. Such as life aspirations, the impact of work on their personal lives, and their relationship with the organization as a whole.

Employer Branding And Creating A Remote Culture Will Be More Key Than Ever

Employer branding and company culture will be key to maintaining a strong sense of belonging in a world where we don’t meet as much in person. Engaged workers are looking for values and being seen.

In 2023, you will no longer be excused for not investing into building a remote culture. Talents will expect one. 

Since the whole workplace and the way organizations interact with their employees, communities, and society is changing, new key C-level roles more focused on purpose will also emerge, such as the Chief Purpose Officer.

Remote Tools Will Help To Optimize Performance And Support Equality

Performance management for remote teams requires a significant mindset shift. We have to judge people by outcomes, results, and contribution – not presence. The question “how will we know what they are doing?” is still one of the main reasons why managers don’t want their teams to work remotely.

Even though there is no proven difference in performance, several managers are more likely to promote employees who are working from the office rather than those who don’t, due to their unsupported beliefs. Given that data also shows that women and people of color prefer to work from home compared to white men, if how we review performance don’t change, gender wage gaps and the level of diversity within leadership teams can worsen.

Over the coming years, remote tools will help provide more insights and a more holistic view of performance. As many managers still struggle with trusting the performance of remote workers, data and insights will help fill in the gaps.

Some Businesses Will Require A Return To The Office (But It Will Backfire)

Even if many employers are planning to adopt a hybrid working model, several will also take the opposite route and demand that employees return, full time, to the office. Due to claimed reasons like reduced company performance, a sense of lost culture, and more. They will however quickly notice that the challenges they are facing are due to other underlying factors.

Requiring that employees return to the office without any choice will, however, only backfire and boost turnover rates. Twitter is a recent example of how people prefer to walk away. 

The Gig-Economy Will Reach New Highs

With numerous studies showing how businesses can save millions of dollars on part-time remote workers, this set-up will become more common. Several groups don’t want to work full-time for different reasons. From parents wanting to spend more time with their children, to employees who want to invest more time into a passion, such as music, or whatever that makes their heart sing. 

The explosive growth of freelance platforms and entrepreneurs also makes it easier to hire part-time talents. According to a study by Harvard, 90 % of corporate executives see remote talent platforms are essential to their company’s long-term success.

Forward-thinking employers will offer more flexibility and creative options, such as shorter days and child-care support. More time off rather than increased pay will also become a more common benefit, as more and more people value time higher than money.

Digital Security Will Become Tighter

As the growth of remote work increases security risks, businesses must continue to prioritize prevention, agility, and resiliency, and take a wider, holistic approach to security management.

Managing multiple tools and services across several cloud platforms and data centers is complex.

Re-thinking risks and ensuring having the right expertise in-house or via partner will be key to

Solutions For Job Search, Collaboration, Team Building And Networking To Be Introduced 

New platforms for remote work are being introduced, making the job search easier.

To support our new reality, software designed to make the collaboration of distributed teams smooth is quickly advancing. From new solutions such as the tech leader’s Alibaba’s DingTalk and Cisco’s AR conferencing offering, to professional and industry-based Slack communities. The virtual events industry is also estimated to achieve a CAGR of more than 23.7% between 2021-2028.

Companies are running team building activities online and new businesses are doing their best to refine how we communicate and collaborate. We expect new exciting VR opportunities that unite to a surreal level which is almost hard to imagine. Much of the technology already exists,  however, it’s still yet to be made more widespread and affordable.

Traditionally “Unremote” Industries To Present New Remote Solutions

From healthcare to manufacturing. While not all of these professions will be carried out yet remotely yet, new technology and innovation will create hybrid solutions. 

Teams around the world are also discussing alternative set-ups, such as having more time off in a year to be able to educate yourself and enjoy some of the benefits remote work comes with. 

Let’s see – one thing is for sure, innovation is to be expected!

The Pace Won’t Slow Down In 2023

We’ve been living through the greatest workplace disruption in generations. It’s real and it will continue. We can expect more adoption of remote work and the pace of how quickly things are changing won’t slow down in 2023.

By staying updated on the future of remote work and embracing it, rather than trying to fight what you can’t control, this new reality also presents several exciting opportunities. Step back, observe what’s happening, and make the changes needed to stay relevant and ahead.