Top 5 Remote Work Trends for 2023

As we look at remote work trends for 2023, we’re finding that what was once trendy is now here to stay. Remote work has become an integral part of many companies and survey after survey indicates a deep desire for workers that have been remote to remain so.

Friction between some business leaders and the workforce remains as we collectively struggle to reemerge from a global pandemic. That said, Google Search trends indicate interest is only increasing. 

Because the pandemic shook up cultural norms of commuting and overworking, many people are now seeking an improved work-life balance and prioritizing their family. Remote work options can be the solution to this. (If remote work is still new to you and your career, check out these tips for transitioning to remote work.)

The downside for remote workers is that there is more competition in the workforce for remote roles. The upside is that availability of those roles has rapidly increased in recent years and will continue to do so in most sectors.

There are five remote work trends we’ll be watching in 2023, and a bonus sixth trend that we’ll be watching far beyond 2023. Whether you’re hiring talent or seeking roles, every single one of these trends are relevant to you as they shape the overall workforce and what your experience will be in the coming year. 

Top 5 Remote Work Trends for 2023

Table of Contents
    1. Hybrid Options
    2. Freelance & Fractional Options
    3. A Boom in Bossware
    4. A New Emphasis on Culture 
    5. Locking Down Security

Remote Work Trend #1: Hybrid Options

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We previously mentioned friction between some business leaders and their employees. Many workers who have worked remotely don’t intend on commuting for the same role they now know can be done just as productively (if not more productively) from home.

Meanwhile, many business leaders are struggling with the challenge of not being able to physically see their workforce. They feel like they can’t keep a finger on the pulse as well if teams are not in person. There remains a strong connection to the culture of maintaining large commercial real estate leases and offering in-person perks, a trend that many hope will return.

To get these two opposing forces into alignment, we suspect that hybrid work options will emerge as the winning factor as we culturally negotiate next steps in the future of work. 

A recent McKinsey & Company study indicates that 90% of employees offered a hybrid situation will choose it over onsite work. This is especially important for parents who struggle with the logistics (not to mention the high cost) of childcare, often solved with remote work or hybrid options of employment. 

And because a repeat factor that has drawn people away from the office is experiencing life without the cost and time it takes to commute, the McKinsey study indicates that talent will compromise for hybrid work and not necessarily just demand fully remote options. 

While some people do not intend on ever returning to an office, the data indicates that hybrid options could be the solution to keeping employers and employees in alignment.

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We believe that it’s not just about the number of days in the office, but flexibility with hours. If an employee can regularly leave on Tuesdays to spend time with their kids, or work from home after lunch, the flexibility will more likely keep them in their role. 

The remote work trend to watch for is employers offering customizable schedules and flexibility in when or where an employee does their best work. Companies that adapt to this trend will be able to attract top talent, while those that refuse could experience a retention problem. 

We also know it can be hard for an employee to break free from the clock-in/clock-out, 8 hour workday. If this is you, check out this article on 6 Methods to Move Away from “Punching the Clock.”

Remote Work Trend #2: Freelance & Fractional Options

The good news of remote work going mainstream is that almost all employers now have experience with it in one way or another. 

The bad news is that it has opened many minds to a distributed workforce. As employers become more comfortable working alongside people who aren’t in their office, they also become more open to hiring freelancers or fractional service providers. 

If you follow the money, venture capital (VC) is betting big on sites that pair employers with this kind of talent. Fiverr and Upwork have a combined market cap of over $3.43 billion. That’s compared with less than $2 billion in 2019. Interest from VCs is red hot right now, so most certainly expect this trend to continue. 

Remote Work Trend #3: A Boom in Bossware

Bossware is a term also known more lovingly as monitoring software that is installed on employee work devices. Bossware boomed during the pandemic and we expect this trend to increase in 2023.

In January 2022, digital.com reported that 60% of employers with remote workers have monitoring software installed on employee devices. They also reported that an additional 17% are considering it.

A new study indicates that more than 6 in 10 (62%) of workers feel more productive when working remotely.

Combine the sentiment of remote workers with the use of bossware, and you can see where this is going – remote work is sticking around, and so is bossware.

What do employers hope to get out of using bossware, and how do they work?

The most common reason cited for the monitoring tools is to understand how employees are using their time, followed closely by ensuring their teams work full days. 

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Some tools take random screenshots, others are keystroke tracking or recording mouse movements, all of which are fairly standard now. More invasive tools randomly activate the device’s webcam or microphone so they can be seen or heard. More advanced tools monitor productivity through AI, learning behaviors and ranking all actions taken. 

Only New York, Delaware, and Connecticut require companies to inform their employees that they are being monitored. We suspect that federal regulations around disclosure and privacy will be part of this trend someday.

Watch for bossware to evolve and continue to boom into 2023 and beyond. 

There ARE employers out there who want a more trusting relationship with their employees. If this is you (or your employer), we have a couple of suggestions on how you can empower your remote employees to do their jobs well without micromanagement.

Remote Work Trend #4: A New Emphasis on Culture

Fully 66% of executives surveyed by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) indicated that maintaining company culture is a primary challenge as remote work has gone mainstream, and that communication and collaboration is also a top concern. 

For decades, companies have carefully cultivated their culture to attract and keep top talent.It has long been a way to retain talent as employees better connect to a company’s mission. But those efforts have become more complicated in a society that suddenly values a work-life balance, having gotten a taste during a global lockdown.

There was a day that adding a ping pong table to an office added “culture,” but a virtual workforce complicates these efforts, so we’ll be watching for more employers to give it a more concerted effort in 2023. 

What Could Remote Culture Look Like?

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Some efforts will be superficial, perhaps offering a quarterly “online happy hour” on Zoom after work hours. Others will be more meaningful like mental health benefits, subscriptions to meditation apps, and an exploration of non-Zoom options to better connect teams.

Burnout is a tremendous risk for remote workers, especially those who struggle to unplug. How will employers commit to combating this challenge in 2023? We’ll be watching. 

The first wave of innovation to answer this conundrum is tech software designed to improve connectivity of teams. This goes beyond Zoom to visual collaboration tools and gamification of team achievements, for example. VC money is also flowing very heavily into this sector. 

Remote Work Trend #5: Locking Down Security

With the world accepting remote work as part of our shared fate, larger companies are making increased investments in cybersecurity. It makes sense that highly confidential and regulated industries like banking can’t just send entry-level employees home with laptops and full access, but other sectors are vulnerable in other ways many of us don’t immediately see.

For example, companies with large supply chains can be hacked and attacked, disrupting the entire flow. Governmental agencies are particularly vulnerable to phishing attacks given the nature of how much sensitive (and expensive) data they are sitting on.

With 85% of cyber attacks initiated by a human factor, the touch points of a human are the most vulnerable. This can be addressed with more training and security investments. Varonis reports that only 5% of American companies’ file folders are properly secured, and with cyber fatigue at an all-time high, the average person has simply accepted hacking as an inevitability.

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Considering how easy it is to manipulate the emotions and the desire of Americans to be perceived as kind, the following is no surprise: America was the target of 46% of all cyberattacks in 2020 alone, more than twice the rate of any other nation. 

How Can Companies Combat This?

Because of these concerns, the remote work trend we expect in 2023 is companies of all sizes

  • investing in anti-malware software
  • requiring multi-factor authentication for employees’ use of devices
  • revoking high levels of permissions from more staff
  • implementing requirements to keep software updated
  • and new or increased training on company data.

Bonus Trend: Virtual Reality?

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Many are dreaming of a virtual reality (VR) future for remote work. They hope to emulate the feeling of sitting in the same room with all team members and creatively collaborating.

And why not? VR headsets have rapidly advanced. With Meta Founder Mark Zuckerberg saying his Quest Pro headset will replace our computers, and Apple now gearing up to release their own mixed-reality headset, we very well could be remote working with different versions of VR headsets someday.

But don’t count on this one happening anytime soon. For now, it’s still a nerdy pipe dream that is slowly coming to fruition. They’re great for gaming, but for starters, putting blue light that close to your eyeballs for extended periods damages vision. The added weight to your head could potentially damage your neck and back.

It sounds like a managerial dream to be able to hover ever so slightly above remote teams and see what they see. Thankfully, this isn’t in our immediate future. 

Watch out for 2023 to be a big year for remote work technologies in these ways; to better align employers with employees, and for security and bossware to skyrocket, while employers consider adding freelancers to their distributed workforce lineup. It’ll be an interesting year as many suspect a “new normal” emerges.