Remote working has certainly been a hot topic across multiple industries since Covid-19. Within eCommerce and digital, it has always been something employees had the capability to do. However, many companies simply didn’t offer remote working opportunities as a staff benefit.
Attitudes are now changing towards the way we work in a post-Covid world. A culture of trust, and allowing digital teams autonomy, is a valuable thing. However, there are management teams that still believe creativity is lost when employees are not collaborating in person every day.
Cranberry Panda, the eCommerce recruitment agency, recently released the 2022 eCommerce salary survey report. The results show a hybrid working model is slowly on the rise and could be the future, particularly within start-ups.
Remote/Hybrid vs The office
Within eCommerce, it is clear that remote or hybrid working is becoming a key factor in recruitment strategies. If companies don’t offer this, great talent will look elsewhere.
51% of respondents are still fully remote, while 42% follow a hybrid model. The popular choice is two days from home each week. Leaving only 7% who are in the office full time, these figures indicate a huge shift in work structures.
How do staff really feel about working from home?
While more people are beginning to speak up about how hybrid working benefits them, there are employees who are uncomfortable with raising the issue with senior management. Cranberry Panda’s salary survey questionnaire allowed complete anonymity, so the respondents did not hold back.
81% shared that they work well from home, while 19% said they are mostly fine though can work on reducing distractions. With no respondents saying they do not work well from home, it will take a lot to convince digital professionals to return to the office.
Start-ups, in particular, require a collaborative environment to help ideas come to life. However, only 15% of respondents who work within a start-up believed innovation is lost when some of the team operate remotely. There is a real investment in work from home technology, improving employee productivity and connectivity.
The future is hybrid
Cranberry Panda’s report reveals that ‘working from home opportunities’ is the second most important essential for eCommerce professionals when looking for a new role. For large retailers and tech start-ups, there are new ways to attract the best talent into digital teams. Ignoring them will simply mean that these professionals will look elsewhere.
