Covid-19 And Tech Wages: How Remote Work Has Impacted Tech Workers’ Income

Covid-19 has impacted every sector worldwide. After the coronavirus lockdown, the demand for tech professionals increased significantly. Working from home is now the new standard, and most companies are offering remote positions. According to Payscale, remote work is becoming more popular year after year. For example, in 2016, about 38% of organizations provided remote positions. But, in 2019, over 40% of companies offered remote jobs as a benefit.

Although 25% of the workforce is expected to work from home several days a week in 2021, it’s affecting tech salaries growth. Being a remote worker means you can work from anyplace. Therefore, many professionals have considered relocating, but some big companies are already taking action. If you want to know how tech wages are being impacted by remote work and Covid-19, you can’t miss reading this article.

Greater Schedule Flexibility

Working from home has been a wish come true for several workers. However, most tech employees would prefer to get a part-time remote position instead of a full-time remote job. According to a report by Hired, although remote work has proven to increase workers’ satisfaction and productivity, most employees would return to the office on their own terms.

Remote work is causing companies to struggle to retain and attract top tech talent. Hence, if big tech companies want to stay relevant, they need to provide employees with greater schedule flexibility. Working from home also means that most tech employees won’t be able to enjoy their in-office perks. As a result, some companies have considered offering a bonus to those who would like to work remotely full-time. In other words, if you’re a software engineer and you decide to work from home, you’ll probably get a bonus equal to your in-office perks.

Higher Diversity but Lower Transparency

Remote work is helping companies to diversify like never before. Nowadays, it’s possible to live in a country like Costa Rica and get a job with a US firm. Diversification is beneficial to tech workers in Latin America and Asia. But, it might be a threat to US tech employees. To put it differently, US companies will hire more workers outside the US because those workers have lower salary expectations.

Likewise, Hired’s report shows how the lack of transparency is affecting offered salaries as well as expected salaries. For example, a white data scientist would expect to receive a higher salary than a Black or Hispanic professional with the same job title and skills. Hired’s report has proven the existence of a salary gap and an expectation gap. More discouraging is the fact that salaries might also be affected depending on your gender. If you’re a female data scientist, your compensation will be even lower, particularly if you are Black. According to Hired’s 2020 State of Wage Inequality report, over 60% of the time men are offered higher salaries than women. 

Location-based salaries

While more companies are adopting remote work to stay relevant, top-notch organizations like Facebook are implementing location-based policies to adjust offered salaries across the globe. Consequently, if you live in San Francisco and decide to move to a city like Denver, your payment will be adjusted. 

Hired’s report shows how most tech professionals are looking forward to achieving salary equity. Nonetheless, they are split on supporting localized salaries. Although several employees aren’t happy with world-class companies’ new policies, many employees will get a pay rise if they move to a city with a higher cost of living. 

Job Security

After the coronavirus unemployment crisis, most people began to wonder how secure their job was. During the Covid-19 pandemic, many people lost their jobs. But, while the world wrestles with uncertainty, more people are proclaiming that the tech industry is not surviving but thriving. Hence, tech talent is maintaining cautious confidence. According to Hired’s 2020 State of Salary report, 58% of surveyed individuals are not concerned about getting fired in the next six months. In fact, 49% of surveyed tech professionals would expect to get a pay rise in the next few months. 

Conclusion

Remote work is indeed changing how we live and work. The digital transition is increasing the need for tech skills. The rate at which tech salaries are growing might have been affected by the new normal, but they are, on average, on the increase. In other words, starting a new tech career is a great alternative to remain competitive and change your lifestyle. According to Computer Science Hero, a software engineer, for example, makes $133,000 per year on average.