Corona effect: More employees are seeking remote work options

The search for remote work options is spiking in job search engines. According to data from job site Indeed, a globally renowned job site with operations in over 60 countries, job seekers across the country are showing an increasingly greater interest in working remotely amid the COVID-19 crisis. The search for terms like ‘remote’, ‘work from home’ and other related phrases have increased with searches for remote work increasing by over 261 per cent as a share of all searches on Indeed India since February 2020. However, the number of available job postings for remote work opportunities has remained relatively unchanged during the same time period.

Overall, job searches have increased by 278 per cent as a share of all searches on Indeed India since September 2019. 

“Flexibility has always been a vital aspect of job opportunities to job seekers, especially millennials, who today make up over half of India’s working population. In challenging times like these, being able to continue working remotely serves as an asset, not only to the job seeker’s skill set but also in helping the organization maintain business continuity,” says Pawel Adrjan, an economist at Indeed.

A previous study by Indeed India shows that 83 per cent of job seekers consider a remote work policy an important factor when searching for a job, so much so that 53 per cent of employees would consider taking a pay cut in order to have access to remote working options. 56 per cent of employees and 83 per cent of employers concur that offering flexibility in working can help boost productivity.