People seem pretty pleased with the opportunities remote work has provided - particularly at a global level.

At least, that's what's suggested by new data released by Deel and survey company Momentive (formerly known as SurveyMonkey) this morning. Deel offers a central platform for companies to hire employees and independent contractors located remotely. They hire employees through their own local entity on a company's behalf, acting as the employer of record and managing compliance with employment laws in each country. Founded in 2019, Deel has been seeing hyper-growth during the pandemic as part of the coterie of companies which benefited from the sudden surge to remote and work-from-home over the past two years. Since founding, Deel has been through six rounds of investments (pre-seed, seed, then A-D), and had a valuation of $5.5 billion at its D round in October of last year.

While this suggests that they have a stake in the game when it comes to advocating for remote, their data is interesting and aligns with other studies.

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers' (PwC) Executive Views on Business in 2022 Pulse Survey, 43% of business leaders plan to keep hybrid work options for employees, and 30% plan on making remote work a permanent option. In addition, 77% of executives see hiring and retaining employees as the two most important factors to consider in 2022.

Data from Gallup shows that 32% of workers say they’d like to work remotely all the time, and 60% would opt for an option which offered a hybrid-approach. Less than 10% were interested in being fully onsite. That's a massive swing from 2019, when 60% of surveyed workers opted for fully onsite.

With Deel, the focus was on their own employees,  the majority of whom work for US-based employers, but live and work overseas. The suggestion from the data is that the remote revolution is delivering US-level lifestyle benefits globally.

What the Deel Data Shows

• Remote work = increased pay: Across the board, remote work leads to higher salaries. Overall, 58% reported salary increases, with slightly higher percentages for those age 44 and under. This was true across regions.
• 64% say remote work has led to increased savings.
• 95% of parents say remote work has helped them. Not hugely surprising (though the # is very high), but notable that this was conducted once most schools reopened, meaning parents are saying they can finally enjoy remote work.
• 76% say remote work has created a better work-life balance, while 72% have been afforded a more flexible schedule.

There are additional lifestyle benefits. A majority (64%) of Deel users surveyed say they’ve been able to increase their savings by working  remotely. Four in 10 (40%) say they pay less for travel, 39% say they’ve moved closer to friends  and family, 30% say they’ve increased their travel, 21% say they pay less for housing, 17% say  they’ve moved closer to their romantic partner, 14% have moved to their dream city, and 9%  have cured or treated an illness.

Granted, this is a closed group which offers skills that high-tech employers such as Coinbase and Shopify (both Deel customers) seek out at high volumes. The question will be if those workers will, in turn, spread their largesse and newfound benefits across their own communities and provide a general lift. Time will answer that question for us.

For the full survey data, please visit here.

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