Workers Prefer Reduced Pay Over Full-Time Office Return

A new study by Harvard professors has found that 40% of workers would be willing to take a pay cut to continue working from home rather than return to the office. A small percentage, 9%, would even be willing to give up 20% of their salary to keep their flexibility over working from the office five days per week.

The study surveyed over 2,000 workers and found that the highest shares of workers willing to accept a salary reduction were those who worked remotely before the COVID-19 pandemic, had a college degree or changed jobs during the pandemic.

Workers aged 50 and older valued remote work the least, while women were more willing to give up 20% of their salary to work from home than men. Those who identified as the primary caregiver in their household were also more willing to give up a larger chunk of their pay to work remotely.