• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Trump pulls back after Iran crosses his red line as U.S. military breaks two-week streak of airstrikes amid talks for potential Hormuz deal

2

The millennial generation is split in 2: an older crowd with boomer-style comfort, a younger set going 'back to the early 1900s'

3

College-educated women are snapping up the highest-earning men without college degrees, leaving the rest further behind

1

Trump pulls back after Iran crosses his red line as U.S. military breaks two-week streak of airstrikes amid talks for potential Hormuz deal

2

The millennial generation is split in 2: an older crowd with boomer-style comfort, a younger set going 'back to the early 1900s'

3

College-educated women are snapping up the highest-earning men without college degrees, leaving the rest further behind
Successremote work

Companies won’t give raises that keep up with inflation. Hybrid work could be the cure

By
Jane Thier
Jane Thier
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Jane Thier
Jane Thier
Down Arrow Button Icon
October 12, 2022, 3:28 PM ET
Woman working on couch with dog
Working from home is more valuable than companies may think.Elena Katkova—Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

It’s hard to put a price on ease and comfort. But for workers who have grown accustomed to their remote digs, that value is only growing.

Employees value a hybrid work arrangement about as much as they would an 8% pay increase, according to the latest research from Nick Bloom, Stanford economist and coresearcher behind the monthly WFH Research reports. That means they’d opt for a hybrid policy—or to keep it if they currently have it—even if their employer offered almost 10% more pay to return to work full-time.

Granted, that offer wouldn’t be particularly attractive anyway: It barely covers the cost of inflation, which has hovered above 8% for most of the year, topping out at 9.1% in June. Many raises doled out this year haven’t kept up with the soaring cost of living.

Workers in the tech sector put the value of working from home two to three days a week at slightly over 11% of their current pay, Bloom’s research finds. For finance workers, that’s 10%, followed by 9% for business services, 8% for retail trade, and 7.5% for education workers. Those in health care, government, and manufacturing—industries in which remote work is mostly untenable—each valued it below 7% of their salary.

This comes as no surprise to Bloom, he told Fortune in an interview last Thursday; hybrid work is the uncontested way of the future, and employees are making that clear. Bloom pointed to his research from July, which found that offering two to three days of remote work per week among engineers, finance, and marketing professionals reduced quit rates by over one-third. 

There’s little reason to doubt why hybrid schedules are so popular. Ample research has proved that part-time remote work is more productive, more lucrative, and can be a boon for employees’ mental health. Plus, when accounting for skyrocketing inflation in transit and food, working from your home office is almost always the more cost-effective option.

“In 2023, we’ll be laughing at anyone who does anything else but hybrid,” Bloom says. 

The salary tradeoff 

Responses from Bloom’s latest research hold remarkably consistent. Last spring, a Goldman Sachs worker posted on anonymous professional forum Blind and asked workers whether they’d rather get a $30,000 pay bump but be required to return to the office full-time or remain at their current salary and be able to work from home.

Nearly two-thirds (64%) of professionals said they’d take remote work over the raise. A full 100% of workers at Zillow said they’re team remote work, alongside 89% of Twitter employees, 81% at Lyft, and 71% at Airbnb. 

Plus, the data dovetails neatly with Bloom’s research from earlier this year, which found that many companies are using the perk of remote work as a substitute for doling out raises. Nearly two in five (38%) companies Bloom and his colleagues surveyed said they specifically expanded remote work offerings to keep employees happy and to moderate wage-growth pressures.

This should be good news for employers looking for any reason to cut their spending. Even better news for them: Workers’ love for remote work isn’t all-encompassing; only about 31% say they’re done with the office entirely. 

Sign up for the Fortune Features email list so you don’t miss our biggest features, exclusive interviews, and investigations.

About the Author
By Jane Thier
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Success

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in Success

Jeff Bezos says being lazy, not working hard, is the root of anxiety: ‘The stress goes away the second I take that first step’
SuccessJeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos says being lazy, not working hard, is the root of anxiety: ‘The stress goes away the second I take that first step’
By Sydney LakeJuly 26, 2026
10 hours ago
Stressed out Gen X woman
SuccessRetirement
Despite nearing their 60s, nearly four in 10 Americans heading towards the end of their careers don’t even have a retirement account
By Emma BurleighJuly 26, 2026
10 hours ago
A Gen Xer sold his company for $1.6 billion. He kept less than $100 million and gave the rest away because he doesn’t ‘believe in billionaires’
SuccessHow I made my first million
A Gen Xer sold his company for $1.6 billion. He kept less than $100 million and gave the rest away because he doesn’t ‘believe in billionaires’
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJuly 26, 2026
10 hours ago
raikes
CommentaryMicrosoft
Jeff Raikes: The talent debt I warned about is now showing up in the data
By Jeff RaikesJuly 26, 2026
12 hours ago
Salary Transparent Street creator Hannah Williams
SuccessCareers
This millennial job-hopped every 6 months to $90K by the time she was 23—she left it all behind to become a salary negotiation guru
By Emma BurleighJuly 26, 2026
12 hours ago
Photo of young woman in a red dress observing the man she's talking to
Economylifestyle
College-educated women are snapping up the highest-earning men without college degrees, leaving the rest further behind
By Mia OsmonbekovJuly 26, 2026
13 hours ago

Most Popular

Trump pulls back after Iran crosses his red line as U.S. military breaks two-week streak of airstrikes amid talks for potential Hormuz deal
Middle East
Trump pulls back after Iran crosses his red line as U.S. military breaks two-week streak of airstrikes amid talks for potential Hormuz deal
By Jason MaJuly 25, 2026
1 day ago
The millennial generation is split in 2: an older crowd with boomer-style comfort, a younger set going 'back to the early 1900s'
Real Estate
The millennial generation is split in 2: an older crowd with boomer-style comfort, a younger set going 'back to the early 1900s'
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 25, 2026
1 day ago
College-educated women are snapping up the highest-earning men without college degrees, leaving the rest further behind
Economy
College-educated women are snapping up the highest-earning men without college degrees, leaving the rest further behind
By Mia OsmonbekovJuly 26, 2026
13 hours ago
An 11-year-old is cleaning his neighbors' trash cans for $10 each—he now has 100K followers as teens face the worst summer job market since 1948
Success
An 11-year-old is cleaning his neighbors' trash cans for $10 each—he now has 100K followers as teens face the worst summer job market since 1948
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJuly 25, 2026
2 days ago
'The demographic dividend of the last 40 years is ending': J.P. Morgan says the world is running out of the two things that kept interest rates down
Economy
'The demographic dividend of the last 40 years is ending': J.P. Morgan says the world is running out of the two things that kept interest rates down
By Eleanor PringleJuly 24, 2026
3 days ago
Startups are installing tiny data centers in people’s homes to reduce strain on the beleaguered electrical grid
Environment
Startups are installing tiny data centers in people’s homes to reduce strain on the beleaguered electrical grid
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 25, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.