10% of remote workers were laid off last year, compared to 7% of those working in the office full-time or a hybrid schedule.
A new report revealed that full-time remote workers were 35% more likely to be laid off than their in-office peers in 2023. The data showed that 10% of remote workers were laid off last year, compared to 7% of those working in the office full-time or a hybrid schedule. Another survey found that employers think of in-office employees as harder workers – whether that’s true or not. "Managers believe employees who work remote are lower performers than those that come to the office,” said Brian Kropp, chief of human resources research at consulting firm Gartner. “They will on average be more likely to lay off those who are working remote than those who are coming into the office. Simply put: it’s out of sight, out of mind.”
And Andy Challenger, senior vice president at outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas agrees, telling the Wall Street Journal that it’s often difficult for managers to have a rapport with people not in the office. "When a hiring manager gets news they have to cut 10% of the staff, it’s easier to put someone on the list you don’t have a close personal relationship with."