Remote job listings in New York City skyrocket
NEW YORK - The number of job listings in New York City advertising remote work has nearly quadrupled in just the last year, according to data analyzed by New York City Partnership and first reported by the New York Post.
Recent data showing this shift in how businesses are starting to view remote workplaces, could mean that remote jobs are here to stay, experts say.
"With COVID-19, one of its impact points is that it's revolutionized the way that we think about where work needs to be performed," David Lewis, CEO of OperationsInc explained. "And in part because people are also reassessing their work life balance priorities."
When New York went "On Pause" at the beginning of the pandemic in March of 2020, most speculated that when the pandemic eased, everyone would return to their office desks.
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However, many recent polls show that there is not only less of a desire to return to the cubicle, there is also more of a need to stay at home, with child care costs rising and schools switching at times to remote learning.
"I think the companies that are still struggling with it are the ones that are still fighting the idea that this is the new norm," Lewis said. "So I think once businesses embrace this and work collaboratively with their employees to try to find the right middle ground that allows for the business to continue to operate successfully."
A recent poll from GoodHire showed that given a choice 68% of people across the country would choose to work remotely rather than sit behind an office desk and 45% would quit their job if they were forced to return to the workplace.
New York City Partnership estimates that as of November, only 28% of workers in Manhattan were back at their desks
But the increase in remote jobs means fewer people taking public transit and fewer businesses taking up valuable real estate.
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A City Comptroller report estimates that the city and state could lose hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue if this trend continues.
"Restaurants do rely on those people in the offices," State Senator George Borrello explained. "They rely on them for lunch business, that after work happy hour, business dinners, entertaining clients. That is a big part of the restaurant business."
Both Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams have been urging businesses to require their employees to return to the office, Mayor Adams telling banks that they "can’t run New York City from home."
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