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Tech and creative is leading the way in office return

Remote working opportunities are slipping most in the Creative & Design sector, with the proportion of job ads for fully remote roles reversing -6.1 percentage points (pp) over the last three months, down from 22.1% in October to 16.0% this January.

After nearly three years of pandemic-adjusted working patterns, Brits are being called back to the office across sectors like Creative & Design and IT, according to new research*.

The research analysed jobs advertised on Adzuna between January 2020 and January 2023, tracking the proportion of postings which specify jobs are either ‘remote’, ‘hybrid’ or ‘office-based’/‘on-site’.

Remote working opportunities are slipping most in the Creative & Design sector, with the proportion of job ads for fully remote roles reversing -6.1 percentage points (pp) over the last three months, down from 22.1% in October to 16.0% this January. The IT sector is also seeing a contraction in remote opportunities, down -3.4pp over the last three months to 27.9%, amid a wave of return-to-office announcements.

PR and Legal are also seeing remote opportunities dive, with the proportion of job ads offering remote working down -1.5pp and -0.7pp respectively since October.

The trend is even more prominent in the US, where employers including Disney and Twitter are mandating a return to the office for their workers.

Meanwhile, designated ‘office-based’ roles are growing in some sectors, including Scientific & QA (+1.5pp), Retail (+1.1pp), Travel (+0.8pp), Graduate (+0.6pp), and Engineering (+0.6pp). The rise in graduate on-site roles may reflect a growing appetite to nurture new talent on-site and help them build work networks.

Paul Lewis, Chief Customer Officer at job search engine Adzuna, comments: “To date, UK workers have to date been resistant to the return to the office, but as the recession bites, layoffs mount up and job opportunities slow down, refusing on-site mandates is becoming higher risk. We’re seeing employers becoming firmer on return-to-office policies, following a spate of high profile mandates led by the likes of Elon Musk. Sectors like Creative & Design and IT are slowly but surely moving back to the office, in a trend we expect to see pick up through 2023.

“But while the return-to-office may be reassuring to some employers, there are some very real downsides. Flexible working is of particular importance to women, who often shoulder the burden of caring needs on top of their jobs. Forcing women back to the office could cause some to quit, burnout, or force less productive working patterns, which will only widen existing gender divides further. It’s crucial that employers maintain flexible options for those that need it, even if mandating wider return-to-office policies.”

Table 1: The sectors where ‘remote’ work is falling

Sector Proportion of ‘remote’ job ads, Oct ‘22 Proportion of ‘remote’ job ads, Jan ‘23 3 month change
Creative & Design 22.13% 16.04% -6.09pp
IT 31.31% 27.85% -3.4pp
PR 21.92% 20.38% -1.54pp
Legal 11.97% 11.29% -0.68pp
Hospitality & Catering 2.27% 1.74% -0.53pp

Table 2: The sectors where ‘office-based/ on-site’’ work is rising

Sector Proportion of ‘office-based/on-site’ job ads, Oct ‘22 Proportion of ‘office-based/on-site’ job ads, Jan ‘23 3 month change
Scientific & QA 11.06% 12.58% +1.52pp
Retail 2.10% 3.15% +1.05pp
Travel 3.18% 3.99% +0.81pp
Graduate 6.60% 7.20% +0.60pp
Engineering 13.49% 14.09% +0.60pp

Sectors resisting the return to the office

Not all sectors are returning to on-site work, several are instead seeing a rise in remote job opportunities.

The Admin sector is leading the charge, with the proportion of job ads for remote roles rising +14.7 percentage points (pp) between October and January 2023. Simultaneously, office-based admin roles have fallen -2.2pp over the same period.

Consultancy roles are also resisting the return to the office, with remote opportunities up 2.6pp since October, while the proportion of on-site ads has slipped -2.7pp.

The data also reveals an increase in remote roles within the Teaching sector (up +12.6pp since October), with more advisory, tutor, teaching assistant, assessor, and lecturer roles shifting to remote.

Table 3: The sectors where ‘remote’ work is rising

Sector Proportion of ‘remote’ job ads, Oct ‘22 Proportion of ‘remote’ job ads, Jan ‘23 3 month change
Admin 6.93% 21.67% +14.73pp
Teaching 3.91% 16.49% +12.59pp
Scientific & QA 12.22% 14.88% +2.67pp
Consultancy 12.18% 14.82% +2.64pp
Maintenance 1.71% 3.78% +2.07pp

Table 4: The sectors where ‘office-based/ on-site’’ work is falling

Sector Proportion of ‘office-based/on-site’ job ads, Oct ‘22 Proportion of ‘office-based/on-site’ job ads, Jan ‘23 3 month change
Logistics & Warehouse 20.23% 11.89% -8.34pp
Domestic Help & Cleaning 8.99% 5.86% -3.13pp
Customer Services 17.21% 14.30% -2.91pp
Consultancy 9.04% 6.30% -2.74pp
Admin 15.28% 13.08% -2.20pp

Top sectors for remote working overall

Across the UK, 12.1% of all UK job vacancies were advertised as ‘remote’ in January 2023, compared to 11.3% labelled as ‘hybrid’ and 8.5% as ‘on-site’/‘office-based’.

The top sectors advertising for remote working roles overall remain IT (27.9% of job ads), Admin (21.7%), PR (20.4%), Teaching (16.5%) and HR & Recruitment (16.1%).

Table 5: Top 10 remote working sectors, Jan 2023

Sector Proportion of ‘remote’ job ads, Jan ‘23
IT  27.85%
Admin  21.67%
PR 20.38%
Teaching  16.49%
HR & Recruitment  16.11%
Creative & Design  16.04%
Scientific & QA  14.88%
Sales  14.86%
Consultancy  14.82%
Charity & Voluntary  13.98%

Table 6: Remote, hybrid and on-site working, trends over time

Date Proportion of ‘office-based’/‘on-site’ job ads Proportion of ‘hybrid’ job ads Proportion of ‘remote’ job ads
Jan 2020 7.3% 0.4% 2.9%
Feb 2020 7.4% 0.4% 3.0%
Mar 2020 7.5% 0.4% 3.2%
Apr 2020 6.7% 0.4% 4.4%
May 2020 6.5% 0.4% 6.0%
Jun 2020 6.3% 0.4% 7.3%
Jul 2020 6.8% 0.4% 7.5%
Aug 2020 8.4% 0.4% 7.6%
Sep 2020 8.9% 0.4% 8.0%
Oct 2020 8.9% 0.5% 8.8%
Nov 2020 8.8% 0.5% 9.8%
Dec 2020 8.2% 0.5% 10.2%
Jan 2021 7.8% 0.5% 11.5%
Feb 2021 8.0% 0.6% 12.3%
Mar 2021 8.3% 0.6% 11.8%
Apr 2021 8.3% 0.7% 11.5%
May 2021 8.6% 0.8% 11.0%
Jun 2021 9.0% 1.1% 11.0%
Jul 2021 9.1% 1.5% 11.0%
Aug 2021 9.5% 1.9% 10.7%
Sep 2021 9.3% 2.5% 10.5%
Oct 2021 9.5% 3.4% 10.8%
Nov 2021 9.4% 4.5% 11.3%
Dec 2021 9.4% 5.0% 11.4%
Jan 2022 9.0% 5.7% 12.4%
Feb 2022 9.1% 7.0% 12.3%
Mar 2022 9.4% 7.8% 11.4%
Apr 2022 9.3% 8.6% 11.9%
May 2022 9.3% 9.3% 11.8%
Jun 2022 9.1% 9.9% 11.6%
Jul 2022 9.1% 9.9% 11.5%
Aug 2022 9.3% 10.2% 10.6%
Sep 2022 9.2% 10.2% 9.6%
Oct 2022 9.7% 10.6% 9.3%
Nov 2022 9.8% 11.0% 9.4%
Dec 2022 9.1% 11.5% 10.9%
Jan 2022 8.5% 11.3% 12.1%

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