Product manager working with team on project creation

Are the newest graduates big fans of remote work? Or are they more willing to head into an office than their older peers?

Earlier this year, The Muse surveyed 900 new grads about their job outlook. Some 57 percent of those respondents had a bachelor’s degree or higher, while 36 percent cited high school as their highest degree. Collectively, they also offered some key insights into their views on remote and hybrid work.

“When asked what percentage above market rate would you need to work from the office five days a week, 23 percent of new graduates say they would do so with no increase in salary, indicating that they see it as a chance to build relationships and find community,” read The Muse’s note accompanying its data.

Contrast that with the roughly 50 percent of respondents who would need a pay bump of 20 percent or more to come into the office. Flexibility is also a reflection of graduates’ salary expectations: “As salary expectations increase, people need more compensation to work on-site. This may also indicate that as people advance in their education and/or career, their life stage can create a desire for more flexibility—including where they do their work.”

Fortunately for technologists—particularly software developers and engineers—hybrid and remote work are popular options. The latest edition of Stack Overflow’s annual Developer Salary crunched data from 58,958 respondents worldwide and found that around 42 percent were fully remote; another 42 percent were hybrid; and 14 percent were fully in-office. “Smaller organizations are most likely to be in-person, with 20 percent of 2-19 employee organizations in-person,” that report added. “The largest organizations, with 10k employees, are most likely to be hybrid.”

Although remote work is an enticing benefit for many technologists, managers shouldn’t discount their teams’ interest in hybrid work. In Dice’s Tech Sentiment Report, 85 percent of technologists said they found the prospect of hybrid work anywhere from somewhat to extremely desirable. Some 94 percent of younger technologists (i.e., those between 18 and 34 years old) also thought of a hybrid workplace as either somewhat, very or extremely desirable (compared to 84 percent of those aged 35 and older)—going into the office at least a few days per week offers the mentorship and community that so many of them evidently want.

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