Remote Working Surges as Criteria for More Jobseekers in U.K.

(Bloomberg) -- More jobseekers in Britain are looking to work remotely, a survey showed, indicating that the shift away from office work may outlast the pandemic.

Indeed, a job search website, said 10% of its advertisements now offer remote work as an option and about 2.4% of all searches by potential candidates, up 10-fold from 2019.

Britain had one of the biggest increases in remote working during the pandemic and in the share of vacancies offering it as an option, Indeed said, citing its own research and work by the OECD. Those posts were disproportionately concentrated in higher-paying, non-client facing roles.

“We are settling into seemingly permanent ways of working,” Pawel Adrjan, head of EMEA research at Indeed. “Firms face intense competition when trying to hire staff. So offering remote working makes sense. It can be a powerful way to grab the attention of the sizable number of candidates.”

U.K. job vacancies hit a record 1.25 million in the fourth quarter of 2021, official data showed earlier this week. Shortages in many areas forced companies to compete for workers. 

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