OMAHA, Neb.–Just how much do employees value working from home? Some are willing to trade compensation and benefits, according to one new survey.
The survey, conducted by Breeze, which describes itself as an insurtech that provides disability insurance, asked workers if they had to choose, would they rather have the ability to work remotely or the best employee benefits like health insurance and a 401(k) plan? Would they take a pay cut to retain remote work? Would they give up their PTO?
The Findings
Here’s what the survey of 1,000 American workers found workers would be willing to do in order to continue to work remotely:
- 65% would take a 5% pay cut
- 38% would take a 10% pay cut
- 24% would take a 15% pay cut
- 18% would take a 20% pay cut
- 15% would take a 25% pay cut
- 39% would give up health insurance benefits
- 50% would give up vision insurance benefits
- 44% would give up dental insurance benefits
- 45% would give up disability insurance benefits
- 44% would give up life insurance benefits
- 46% would give up 25% of their paid time off (PTO)
- 23% would give up 50% of their PTO
- 17% would give up 75% of their PTO
- 15% would give up 100% of their PTO
- 36% would give up their 401(k) or other retirement plan
- 53% would work an extra 10 hours per week
- 48% would give up their student loan repayment assistance benefit
- 44% would give up paid parental leave
- 47% would give up mental health benefits
- 64% would give up fitness benefits
- 55% would give up social media for the next year
- 34% would give up their right to vote in all future local & national elections for life
- 52% would give up Netflix or their favorite streaming service for the next year
- 52% would give up Amazon for the next year
Results By Generation
According to Breeze, here's how different generations value remote work:
“Surprisingly, Gen Xers were often the most likely generation to take pay cuts, part ways with some of the best job benefits, or get rid of PTO in exchange for the ability to work remotely full-time,” the company said. “For example, 21% of Gen Xers would take a 25% pay cut compared to 14% of Millennials, 10% of Zoomers, and 7% of Boomers. When the sacrifice was 100% of PTO, those respective percentages were 19%, 14%, 11%, and 6%. When it was giving up Amazon for one year, the percentages were 55%, 52%, 49%, and 48%.
Why might this be? According to Breeze’s analysis, Gen Xers are between the prime parenting ages of 41 and 56, so remote work gives them better flexibility to juggle being a parent and an employee simultaneously.
The full survey results can be found here.