Remote & Hybrid Workers Missing Out On Promotion Opportunities
Passed Over For Promotion
New research by United Culture, involving 1000 respondents, has found that 27% of workers believe that they have been passed over for promotion due to the fact that they are either remote workers who work exclusively from home, or hybrid workers.
Other Findings
The new survey by United Culture also found that the issue of a lack of promotional opportunities for remote and hybrid workers was worse for those aged 25-34 (37%), and 35-44-year-olds (42%).
These findings are consistent with other recent research on remote and hybrid workers. The 2025 Salary Guide from Robert Half’, for instance, found that 68% of respondents were of the view that lower levels of office attendance had an adverse impact upon career prospects.
Another finding of the United Culture survey was that the attributes most valued by workers in a job role was flexibility (27%) and work-life balance (43%), with 57% of the respondents stating that they would either leave or contemplate leaving if their employer reduced the amount of flexibility on offer in relation to their role. Indeed, 14% stated they they would definitely leave.
Employers Increasingly Demanding A Return To The Office
Nevertheless, recent research conducted by NCG found that 59% of employers plan to demand an increase in the number of days hybrid workers spend in the office, compared to the last year, meaning that many workers may have difficult decisions to make in terms of whether to leave their present employers. Indeed, according to the Wall Street Journal, Starbucks "will be instituting an 'accountability process' in January to ensure corporate employees comply with requirements to work in the office three days a week", with the consequences for failing to adhere being “up to, and including, separation”.
Moreover, back in February, Dell decided to categorise its workers as either being hybrid workers or remote workers. Whereas hybrid workers would be required to attend the office on at least 39 days per quarter (which equates to 3 days a week), those who don’t will be classified as remote workers and will no longer be considered for promotion or a change of role.
Comment
Commenting upon the findings in relation to remote and hybrid workers, the Vice President of Permanent Places UK & Ireland at Robert Half, Chris Lawson, stated: "If workers are made to feel that they are unable to progress because they aren’t in the office every day, they will simply move on. And more often than not, it will be the best performers or most in-demand professionals who will jump ship first – something that employers today simply can’t afford."
The global operations director at United Culture, Mavis Boniface, added: "Flexibility is clearly important to all types of employees, but especially to younger employees who are the future leaders. If those who work flexibly are missing out on opportunities and promotions, it means they will leave and go somewhere else – and no organisation can afford to lose talent. It comes down to a cultural shift within each organisation. People who work flexibly must be treated the same and given the same development opportunities as those who show up to the office. If leaders reward presenteeism over productivity, their businesses are in colossal trouble."
Outsourcing Likely To Increase
Further to our recent article on the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing HR, new research conducted by Parseq / Censuswide has found that 1.3 million businesses are planning to outsorce their back-office functions by 2027, such as HR, IT, accounts, finance, and data management.
Demand Greatest Amongst Large Companies
Significantly more large companies (71%) are planning to outsource these functions, compared to just 24% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with demand the greatest within manufacturing, healthcare, and the financial services sectors.
Comment
Commenting upon the findings, the CEO at Parseq, Craig Naylor-Smith, stated: "Our study shows demand for outsourced services will continue to grow in the coming years, and that businesses also recognise there are big opportunities to cut costs and deliver service improvements with digital transformation. The smart play for the outsourcing industry is to lead that transformation and remove the risks associated with change by supporting clients with managed services that leverage the latest technologies."
