In this article, we explore whether remote developers are working fewer hours than their office-based counterparts, and how offering remote can supercharge your hiring efforts.
South African developers are seeing a slow RTO
In the latest State of the Developer Nation Report, we’ve found that more developers are working outside of fully remote setups. In fact, over the past 12 months, 17% of devs have lost their fully remote status.
Has your remote policy changed in the last 12 months?
At the same time, over half of developers said they would leave a role if forced to RTO. Developers aren’t happy about this shift and there’s a clear disconnect between what they want and what their companies are doing.
So what’s behind this shift back to the office? One reason often given for the RTO is that remote work leads to people working less than they would in the office.
This made us ask: Are remote devs working fewer hours than their in-office counterparts?
The majority of devs work more hours than they’re required to
Across the board, developers are working more hours than they’re contractually required to:
Developers’ contracted versus actual hours worked
Remote devs are no exception to this trend and also work more hours than they’re required to:
Remote developers’ contracted versus actual hours worked
So, if they’re not working fewer hours than they would in an office why is remote so popular? The data suggests that long hours aren’t the problem. Instead, it’s a lack of flexibility and commuting.
Flexibility makes the longer hours worth it and your company more desirable
Developers are clear on their preference for remote work and its benefits. According to data from our latest Developer Retention and Hiring Report, the top benefits of a remote set-up are cost savings from not having to commute and more flexibility over how and when they work:
Developers’ top benefits of remote work
Developers say they’re happier in remote set-ups which can help you supercharge your hiring efforts.
Companies offering remote work attract the best tech talent by offering what devs value most in job offers. And, the importance of remote opportunities has only grown. Offering remote work can also expand your talent pool and the quality of developers you can hire:
Developers’ top factors when evaluating an offer
For more insights to help you level up your dev hiring, get the 2024 data report now.
Further reading:
- 2024 Software Developer Salary Benchmarking Report
- Week in Review: Full stack skills are in demand but it still pays more to specialise on the backend
- Decoding the 2024 tech job market
- Developer salaries are stagnating: Here’s how to prepare for tougher salary conversations
- Senior developers are losing their ability to negotiate high increases, but can bonuses sweeten the deal?
- Not all seniors are equally affected by slowing salary growth — your tech stack matters too
- How Developers Use AI to Ramp up in Their Role
- How OfferZen integrated AI to save time on employer profile creation
- Quick Guide: Introducing AI To Your Company
- Enabling and not replacing: How AI is freeing
- How AI helps tech recruiters unlock high-quality candidates
- More developers are looking to go full stack to drive more product impact
