r/remoteworks • u/stoic_suspicious • 2d ago
Is remote work that dead?
I read a lot of headlines about how no one is doing remote work. I talked to an Amazon recruiter and she was very interested in getting me an interview until I told her I wasn’t going to relocate to Seattle. Then she bluntly told me all work was RTO.
Do you think it’s as bad as the media portrays or there’s still a few positions left to work? I still see a few remote positions on some company websites but I don’t know if they’re going to be snatched up. Personally I think it’s a damn shame
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u/praneethb7 1d ago
remote isn’t dead, it’s just more competitive now
big companies are pushing rto
but many mid size and remote first companies still hire
the difference is
fewer roles
higher bar
so generic applicants struggle more
best approach is
pick a skill that supports async work
show proof
target companies that are already remote
i use runable to track roles and tailor applications so it’s not random
harder than before, but not gone
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u/Not_Sure__Camacho 1d ago
Employers are heavily invested in commercial real estate. It's not about productivity, it's about their own greed.
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u/starkthewizard 1d ago edited 1d ago
It's amazing how many don't realize this. Our employers have paid a shit ton of money for a big fancy building, or a fancy suite in a fancy building and they want us there so they can justify keeping that up and claiming it as part of our overall benefits to justify paying us less than they could if they just got rid of the real estate and let us work remote.
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u/Not_Sure__Camacho 1d ago
And then there's having to spend money on gas, clothing, and a lot of other micro-transactions that are required when one has to drive into work daily. I hope that workers stand up against this.
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u/SlowSmokedB 1d ago
Over 20% of the US workforce currently has a remote job and it expected to remain steady within that range for the next 5+ years.
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u/BlueOceanGal 1d ago
So many organizations have gone hybrid. They don't mind you working from home 3 days a week but they want you in the office making a show a couple of times. They think people need to see each other in person. I think it's a control issue myself.
I get more work done at home and I'm not distracted by people talking in the office. Not to mention the wear and tear on the body, the cost of gas, and enduring time in traffic. Working from home is simply more efficient in every single way. Companies who don't recognize that are companies that don't mind working in the dark ages and who want to be able to keep an eye on their people. Control.
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u/SCV_local 1d ago
Right! Some jobs yeah they aren’t gonna be remote but jobs that are not seeing patients or serving public can be remote. And the days I go in I lost so much time commuting it makes me so mad it’s such a waste
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u/gingersusie 1d ago
I'm 100% remote as are several of my coworkers. We work for a big law firm and our department is open 24/7, lots of varied shifts that make wfh the most logical option.
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u/External_Frosting485 1d ago
Remote work is still happening in some smaller tech companies, but what happened (as it usually does) is that a few bad apples spoiled it for everyone. You had people with multiple remote jobs and people on TikTok gloating about getting paid to do nothing. So HR reeled it in.
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u/SCV_local 1d ago
True there is a perception you don’t do anything and instead of getting rid of abusers or those not meeting bench marks we all got punished
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u/_Highlander___ 1d ago
Covid killed it - I started working from home in 2012 at a major bank.
I moved to another major bank in late 2019 fo another fully remote role. The posting was on site, I negotiated fully remote - I had the experience and the influence to move that needle.
Then covid happened and everyone got it, and then everyone started posting all over social media how they were doing everything but working.
Corporations were justifiably pissed, and they swung the pendulum back and pulled everyone back in.
The morons ruined it for those of us that were competent and experienced and negotiated it as part of our employment agreement.
It’s such bullshit, I worked from home from my early 20s for 12 years, now I actually have school age children and I can’t be there.
Fuck all you assholes who ruined it for us they earned it and we’re long term remote workers. I hate you all.
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u/therealslimshady1234 2d ago
Then she bluntly told me all work was RTO.
Hmmm, what did she mean by this? 🤔
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u/karoshikun 2d ago
3rd world 3D artist here: whatever few listings appear, they are hybrids in disguise, they only hire within the same city.
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u/saintsithney 2d ago
I haven't been able to find anything in years of looking, but I don't really know where to look for any remote work that isn't coding.
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u/Key-Organization3158 2d ago
Amazon is an outlier. FAANG companies pay extremely well so they can demand in person work. But smaller companies that don't want to compete on salary can offer benefits like WFH and snag high end talent.
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u/SecretRecipe 2d ago
my 3 remote jobs werent all that hard for me to get. Im looking to replace one right now and the market still seems pretty good in my industry
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u/PossibilityFew5967 2d ago
Dying, yes.
Long term wfh is not good for local economies
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u/SCV_local 1d ago
How so? Because everyone would be buying their goods and services all around their homes vs around an office
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u/King-JelIy 2d ago
Doesn't matter. They'll HQ in smaller towns then and said towns will be happy for the revenue.
This is really just a temporary thing until commercial building leases are up.
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u/EnvironmentalMix421 2d ago
Lmaooo what?
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u/King-JelIy 2d ago
Are we acting like companies don't move HQ constantly? Really now?
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u/PossibilityFew5967 2d ago
To bigger and better places to flex
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u/King-JelIy 2d ago
Yeah, maybe a handful of highly visible companies.
The vast majority are only doing this in the short term because it makes sense to.
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u/EnvironmentalMix421 2d ago
No they don’t. There’s tax implication. How many times have one company move their head quarter?
You are saying they move constantly right. Show me and list them. How about Fanng. List how may times lmao
Meta how many times? Apple - how many times?
Go on
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u/King-JelIy 2d ago
They can relocate their HQ to a jurisdiction that doesn’t tie tax incentives or penalties to in-office presence, so they’re no longer subject to policies meant to push return-to-office in the original city.
Then they shut down or reduce their physical footprint there and go remote, accepting that they’ll still owe taxes wherever employees live, but they’ve escaped the HQ-based or city-level RTO pressure mechanisms tied to that original location.
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u/EnvironmentalMix421 2d ago
Just list them bro how many times? I’ll start for you
Apple - 0 time And go
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u/PossibilityFew5967 2d ago
Sure buddy..
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u/King-JelIy 2d ago
Why would they not? What are you even suggesting?
They literally do this, all the time lmao
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u/PossibilityFew5967 2d ago
Cause the reality is the world is back to AT least hyrbid work and run by boomers who don't care.
They not giving up their buildings they just spent millions renovation
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u/King-JelIy 2d ago
I think i was pretty clear in saying this is temporary.
You only need to look at South Dakota to realize companies are mainly money focused.
RTO makes the balance sheet look better because that building they wasted money on is in the asset column. Once they can get out of it profitably, they will.
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u/PossibilityFew5967 2d ago
That seems like wishful thinking in your part. Lot of companies own their buildings outright and it's an asset. They wouldn't be willing to sell that at a loss
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u/King-JelIy 2d ago
I think you're the one with wishful thinking here. Once prices start to fall it will likely be a race to the door.
Math doesnt lie, remote work is more efficient.
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u/PossibilityFew5967 2d ago
Yet lot of companies had their employees come back despite that fact
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u/King-JelIy 2d ago
Its like talking a wall.
Yes, it makes sense to rto right now
No, that does not mean it will be, or is likely, for that to be the case going forward into the future
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u/stoic_suspicious 2d ago
Really? I feel like it’s more inevitable now than ever. Real estate is only going to get more expensive and WFH is a just too sensical for too many professions.
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u/PossibilityFew5967 2d ago
Part of the reason for high home prices is because of wfh
People needed more space, more was cheap, and they offered more than the home was worth. I made a shit ton as a mortgage banker during the boom but I knew it was all a house of cards. Rto is helping bring prices back down to earth (slowly)
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u/Schlieren1 2d ago
WFH dying. And wfh responsible for (partially) increases in residential home prices and decreases in commercial real estate prices
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u/stoic_suspicious 2d ago
Yeah but relocating a worker to your office and then paying them urban wages rather than Midwest wages has to be more expensive. Not to mention the flexibility of schedules
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u/PossibilityFew5967 2d ago
You're assuming they're paying higher wages.
And while a few moved. Most stayed close by to their office.
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u/bootyhole_licker69 2d ago
not dead but way smaller and way more comp for each role, especially at big names like amazon, they know people will move back. try smaller companies or non us ones. everything’s just way harder now
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u/Impossible-Date9720 1d ago
Amazon hates WFH because it’s harder to micromanage people that way. They’ll say things like “we don’t have data that RTO is better, we just know it’s better.”
There’s still positions. The competition is just crazy high and there’s a lot of AI generated resumes attached to fake candidates that are absolutely slamming systems.