Hybrid workers earn more on average than onsite or remote workers. Many who work in hybrid positions do jobs that support remote performance, but, most importantly, are mid-career professionals with better power to negotiate salary. Salaries of remote workers are deflated by outsourcing, while onsite worker salaries include many lower-wage workers.
A recent article on CNBC.com noted that workers who spend one to four days in the office earn more than those who are either fully in-person or fully remote. Their findings, based on surveys, raise questions any student of remote work wants to know. Why do hybrid workers make more than other classes of workers? Is there something about hybrid work that makes it worthy of higher rates of pay?
Where Are People Working From These Days?
WFH Research, a group of academics from Stanford, the University of Chicago, MIT, and the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM), started studying the impact of COVID on working arrangements in 2020. They later collaborated with researchers from the UK and the Global Survey of Working Arrangements (G-SWA). Each month, they run an online survey of workers from 20 to 64 who earned over $10K in a prior year which provides the data for their ongoing series of research papers, blogs, podcasts, and short pieces.
Based on their 12,000+ sample, their recent findings indicate that 65.5% of workers do so remotely for 1-5 days per week, while 34.5% are in the physical office every day. In a perfect world of work, 79.8% would like to work remotely, and 18.3% would prefer to commute to work.
# Day Remote Current # Desired #
Rarely or never 34.5 18.2
1 day per week 10.7 8.8
2 days per week 16.8 17.3
3 days per week 11.2 17.0
4 days per week 5.8 9.2
5 days per week 21.0 29.5
The survey found that the average earnings varied among the three groups of fully remote, hybrid, and onsite workers.
Remote $74,000
Hyrid $80,000
Onsite $55,000
Hybrids worker earned more than their peers. Many factors influence why these rates vary.
Who’s Working Where?
Fully in-person work was the norm for most workers before the pandemic. Even during that crisis, only about 40% of all jobs were suitable for remote work. Those jobs are found in areas where in-person interaction is less important than computer access and where there is no need for specialty machinery. A restaurant worker, press operator, or construction work cannot work remotely.
The nature of the job is a major determinant of whether jobs can be performed outside of the office.
McKinsey Global Institute analyzed 2,000 tasks and 800 jobs in nine countries and found that certain jobs had many components that could be performed remotely without losing productivity, while others had fewer components suited to remote performance.
| Skill | % Remote With No Productivity Loss | Theoretical Maximum Remote |
| Finance and insurance | 76 | 86 |
| Management | 68 | 78 |
| Professional, scientific, and technical services | 62 | 75 |
| IT and telecommunications | 58 | 69 |
| Education | 33 | 69 |
| Wholesale trade | 41 | 52 |
| Real Estate | 32 | 44 |
| Government And Administrative Support | 31 | 42 |
| Utilities | 31 | 37 |
| Art, Entertainment, And Recreation | 19 | 32 |
| Healthcare And Social Assistance | 19 | 32 |
| Retail Trade | 18 | 28 |
| Mining | 19 | 25 |
| Manufacturing | 19 | 23 |
| Transportation And Warehousing | 18 | 22 |
| Construction | 15 | 20 |
| Accommodation And Food Services | 8 | 9 |
| Agriculture | 7 | 8 |
| Total | 29 | 39 |
Many of these professions employ large numbers of lower-paid workers.
Computer Dependence Enables Hybrid Work
Research published by Futority.org showed the more computer-dependent a job was, the more likely it was that worker could perform their jobs remotely or hybrid. Jobs that required little or no computer work tended to pay less.
| Type of Work | Examples | % of Workforce | # of Workers | Median Income |
| Work using computers without much interaction with the public | Business, finance, architecture, engineering, software development | 25% | 35.6 million | $63,000 |
| Work using computer and public interaction | Management, healthcare, policing, education | 34% | 52.7 million | $57,000 |
| Work that doesn’t involve computers or public interaction | Construction, maintenance, production, farming, or forestry | 20.10% | 29 million | $40,000 |
| Work with public interaction but no computer use | Retail, food and beauty services, protective services, and delivery of goods | 18.90% | 27.4 million | $32,000 |
The median pay in all job types is brought down by lower-income workers in the class, but positions that do not depend on computers pay less.
The McKinsey studies went further in examining the types of tasks that might be done remotely in certain jobs, while noting what needs to be done in person.
| Skill | % Remote With No Productivity Loss | Theoretical Maximum Remote | Task That Can Be Done Remotely | Task That Must Be Done in Person |
| Updating knowledge and learning | 82 | 91 | Attend online seminar | Attend surgical skills course |
| Interacting with computers | 70 | 75 | Create electronic data backup Set up computer hardware | Set up computer hardware |
| Thinking creatively | 43 | 68 | Design layouts for print publications | Create physical prototypes |
| Communicating with & guiding colleagues or client | 43 | 63 | Discuss business strategies | Direct firefighting or prevention |
| Processing, analyzing, and interpreting information | 54 | 61 | Analyze industry trends | Analyze crime scene evidence |
| Communication and establishing interpersonal relationships | 29 | 57 | Answer telephones to direct calls | Represent clients in legal proceedings |
| Performing administrative and organizational activities | 39 | 52 | Arrange facility schedules | Operate cash registers |
| Training, teaching, coaching, & developing others | 6 | 47 | Instruct college students | Train food service personnel |
| Monitoring processes, surroundings, or use of resources | 34 | 46 | Monitor market conditions or trends | Patrol properties to maintain safety |
| Selling to or influencing others | 24 | 41 | Monitor products, services, or events | Distribute samples |
| Measuring products or surroundings | 24 | 33 | Estimate building costs | Measure water level or depth |
| Assisting and caring for others | 8 | 12 | Make travel arrangements | Provide emergency assistance |
| Equipment, materials, and machinery | 2 | Test software performance | Inspect cargo hazards | |
| Handling and moving objects | 0 | No examples | Collect dirty dishes | |
| Controlling machines & mechanical equipment | 0 | No examples | Operate equipment |
What Factors Keep People Working Onsite
Other factors besides the nature of the job keep people on site. Before the pandemic, modern work was traditionally performed in an office, and bosses still cling to the belief that employees won’t work unless a supervisor is nearby. “Butts-in-seats” and facetime are regarded as the guarantors of productivity – even when many recent studies show that many workers are more productive when completely or partly remote.
To keep workers in the office, some companies have toyed with paying in-person workers more than remote workers. The theory is that commuters have to pay to drive and park their cars or take public transportation, update their wardrobes, pay someone to pick up their kids from school and watch them for a couple of hours, and may need to spend money on house cleaning and take out since they have to pay for these things.
Companies are feeling pressure to allow hybrid and even remote work for some jobs. Even without offering bonuses for people to work onsite, companies are finding that workers regard the ability to work remotely as an amenity they expect if their output is as good or better as someone who comes to the office every day. However, some workers are willing to accept less in exchange for the flexibility of hybrid and remote work.
Some companies succeed at paying less to remote workers who work from home by outsourcing help from states or countries where the costs of living and wage rates are lower. This action has the effect of lowering the average wage of remote workers as a group.
Does Location Preference Vary By Age?
Workers in different age brackets tend to show a preference for in-office work versus hybrid or on-site work
| Age | Prefer office | Prefer hybrid | Prefer remote | Prefer office or hybrid | Prefer hybrid or remote |
| 20-29 | 58.8 | 30.9 | 10.3 | 89.7 | 31.2 |
| 30-39 | 51.8 | 36.3 | 11.9 | 88.1 | 48.2 |
| 40-49 | 58.7 | 29.8 | 11.5 | 95 | 41.3 |
| 50-64 | 67.8 | 17.9 | 14.3 | 85.7 | 32.2 |
Younger workers often prefer the office environment for the social aspect. They want to interact with potential mentors and colleagues in person, so the lowest percentage wanted total remote, with 89.7% preferring the office or remote. Just 31.2% would choose hybrid and remote. Regardless of preference, they may be paid less due to their inexperience.
Older workers over 50 might prefer the office because that is what they are used to.
Hybrid Workers Earn More Due To Point In Their Career
For workers well established in their careers, all the factors involved in higher pay from the location of their choice are in place.
The position many workers are in their career may influence their ability to be highly paid for hybrid and remote work. They may be middle managers or above and employees who have proved themselves to be reliable and productive over the years.
The tasks these people do are typically ones that require high-level computer, analytical, and communication skills.
Their skill level and senior status put them in a position to negotiate higher and better salaries than some lower level would be able to command. Evidence shows that highly compensated white-collar professionals comprise the majority of the hybrid workforce and command the highest salaries.
As a result, it is not surprising that hybrid workers command the highest average salaries and will be able to come and go from the office even when others are expected to work there.
