In recent years, work modes such as remote, office, or hybrid - have become a major topic of debate. At Joinrs.com, we have analyzed this situation in the UK using data extracted from our database to better understand the preferences and trends of both companies and candidates.
Joinrs is the early career platform where over 750k students, new graduates and junior talents across Europe, especially in the UK, kickstart their careers. Over 300 corporations post their jobs to attract and hire the best young talents on Joinrs.
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Work mode Concept
The analysis starts with the understanding of the Work mode. The Work mode is a key piece of information requested during the registration process on the Joinrs platform. It represents the "physical location" of the workplace and is divided into three main categories:
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Full Remote: Completely remote work, with no need of physical presence in the office. Employees can work from anywhere, often with flexible hours.
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Hybrid Work: A combination of remote and office work. Employees split their time between home and office, according to a predefined or flexible schedule.
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On Site: Entirely office-based work or at a specific company location. Employees are required to be physically present during working hours.
This classification allows both users and partner companies to specify their preferences and the users have the ability to choose one or more work mode options and, accordingly, the app will display only job postings compatible with their preferences. Joinrs' company clients can publish job ads clearly indicating the required work mode, thus facilitating the matching process with ideal candidates.
Benchmark of the analysis
Currently, there are 3,695 job positions in the UK with a specified Location Type, although this information is optional and left to the company's discretion. On the other hand, 35,574 active members located in the UK have indicated at least one Work mode preference in the past month.
Distribution of Work mode options in Job Postings
The data analysis shows that job positions are distributed as follows:
This distribution can be explained by various factors, including the traditional preference of companies for on-site work, which can facilitate employee control and management. Moreover, many organizations are still transitioning towards more flexible work models and may not have fully adopted remote work policies yet.
User Preferences on the Joinrs
Conversely, the preferences expressed by platform users show a different trend:
This divergence indicates a clear preference among candidates for more flexible work modes that allow for a better work-life balance.
Success rate of each location type
A more in-depth analysis conducted on an equivalent sample of job opportunities belonging to the three categories of Location Types aims to evaluate whether these modes have significantly influenced the number of applications for job opportunities.
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On average, Full Remote job opportunities see a 460% increase in the number of applications compared to On-Site ones. Additionally, these opportunities are 278% more likely to receive a number of applications above the median compared to On-Site opportunities.
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On average, Hybrid job opportunities receive 83% more applications than On-Site ones. Moreover, these opportunities are 81% more likely to receive a number of applications above the median compared to On-Site ones.
Final Considerations
The analysis indicates that flexible work arrangements, such as fully remote and hybrid working, are becoming increasingly attractive to candidates compared to traditional on-site work. Fully remote job opportunities receive significantly more applications, and hybrid positions also see an increase compared to on-site roles.
This trend is further illustrated in the previous charts, which show that the market supply does not align with candidates' preferences. There is a predominance of on-site or hybrid job postings, while candidates demonstrate a stronger preference for hybrid and fully remote work.
Currently, it is evident that there is a mismatch between supply and demand, highlighting how Gen Z's preferences and needs are still significantly different from the expectations of corporate HR in the UK.