Americans love flexible working: a 2021 study from workable found that at that point, 81.8% of companies and organizations said remote working and flexibility/work-life balance will be more important to candidates going forward, while 71.1% said remote working and distributed teams represent a major paradigm shift will be in the future.
Now, in 2023, as we see some contraction in remote work, 35% of U.S. workers with jobs that can be done remotely work from home all the time, according to new data from Pew research center.
However, when you zoom in on the numbers, it turns out that this is only 7% higher than before the pandemic. As technology leaders such as Twitter’s Elon Musk and Amazon’s Andy Jassy return to office edicts, employee flexibility continues to decline.
At Meta, reports indicate hiring managers are no longer allowed to label jobs as “remote.” In addition, internal requests for remote working or office relocations have also been put on hold.
While workers appreciated the new workplace flexibility that the pandemic enabled, where commutes no longer took hours a day and workers were given space for leisure they never had before, there are also downsides.
Boundaries are broken
A negative result of a fluid workday, where some employees divide their tasks to meet family obligations, for example, is that the traditional limit of 9 to 5 workdays is broken. Employees can send emails, edit requests, and meeting requests at times that are convenient for them, but may be completely off-hours for other colleagues.
As a result, many employees are “always on”; doing more than ever before while trying to keep up with other colleagues and not look like they’re slacking off. Weekends, which have always provided a firewall of downtime for office workers, are now particularly affected.
The workforce analytics software company ActivTrak found that people are now working on average 6.6 hours on weekendsa 5% increase from 2021. That figure is even worse for workers in the computer hardware industry, who work 31% more at 11.5 on weekends.
And Microsoft’s Work Trend Index 2022 also found that weekend work was 14% higher than in 2020.
If this is a problem you face, it can be a difficult problem to solve if it is embedded in the corporate culture. One solution is to look for a new job where there are clear boundaries regarding out-of-hours work.
The VentureBeat Job Board is a great place to start, with thousands of positions in forward-thinking technology companies, like the three below.
Chief Scientist, Afiniti, Washington
Afiniti, a leading provider of artificial intelligence that enhances the customer experience, is seeking a Chief Scientist to lead and inspire a team of expert scientists as they build the next generation of contact center technology. You own the development of new and innovative customer engagement solutions and inspire, create and refine viable business ideas focused on future business needs. To apply, you need 10 years or more of experience leading teams or large projects with research experience in AI, machine learning, deep learning, analytics, optimization, IoT and automation, as well as demonstrable deep domain knowledge in research and development of advanced AI/ML applications, in the field of customer engagement. See all requirements for this position here.
Senior Software Engineer – Tax Cloud Platform, Cash App, Seattle
As a Senior Software Engineer on Cash App’s Tax Cloud Platform engineering team, you’ll work with stakeholders, including product engineers, to design, build and own infrastructure projects that provide critical support for operational services at scale. You dig into the many parts of a large platform using a wide range of analytical tools; use a data-driven approach to call on any new infrastructure that may need to be added, and work with advanced cloud technology. To apply, you need a bachelor’s degree or diploma in computer science, or equivalent experience, as well as experience in Java, Kotlin, Go, Groovy, GCP, AWS, Docker, Kubernetes, Helm, and Terraform. View more details here.
Software Development Manager, Wallet Engineering, Autodesk, San Francisco
Do you get excited about leading a team to solve technical challenges associated with building a scalable, highly available, high-performance platform? Autodesk is looking for a Software Development Manager to lead, manage and mentor a large team of software engineers, identify efficiencies opportunities through automation and engineering, build strong platform capabilities with APIs and responsive user interface and work closely working with architects, product owners and experienced teams to strive for a common vision. View the full job description here.
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