Teleworking: A Demanded Benefit in Sectors like Technology and Marketing

Guillermo Espinosa de los Monteros works in a technology company that allows him to develop 75% of his day from home. “I take teleworking for granted. That they force me to go to the office or what days I have to go seems inconceivable to me, ”explains this 33-year-old from Madrid. When he does job searches on LinkedIn, he adds a filter so he only sees jobs that make remote work possible. “I would not accept any offer without teleworking, I think there is no salary that justifies 100% face-to-face. In my sector it is already very rare that companies do not contemplate teleworking”. The data confirms the perception of this worker: 61% of the vacancies in the IT and telecommunications sector published on Infojobs include some form of teleworking, according to 2022 data from the platform itself. Although in general teleworking is stagnant and even declining —12% of workers telework (2.56 million workers in Spain6.5% less than last year), according to Adecco—, in some sectors it is promoted, among other reasons, because there are so many companies that offer it that workers and candidates are willing to demand it.

Francisco Hortigüela, general director of the Association of Electronics, Information Technology, Telecommunications and Digital Content Companies, sees it as “difficult” for companies in their sector to reject teleworking: “People want to telework. If in one company they give you the possibility and in another they don’t, the normal thing is that you choose the first offer. You have to pamper your talent.” Hortigüela says that if teleworking negatively affected productivity in his sector, he would understand that companies did not facilitate it, “but that does not happen; If the results are the same and you make life easier for people, rejecting remote work can cause you recruitment problems.”

It is an analysis similar to that of Margarita Álvarez, of the Spanish Marketing Association. In your sector, 33% of vacancies offer teleworking. “In this activity, as in many others today, there is a war for talent. You have to put all the available weapons on the table to get the best ones. And the percentage of people who ask for flexibility is very high, so if you don’t facilitate it, you lose that war. It is important to reach an intermediate point so that the best want to come or continue with you”, indicates Álvarez, who perceives that even the most “traditional” companies are being “forced” to adapt. “In interviews they always ask us about flexibility and teleworking options.”

“Clearly there are sectors in which companies are being forced to offer teleworking and candidates can demand it. We see that more and more, especially among young people, remote work is a fundamental pillar, that they value it as much as the salary”, adds Mónica Pérez, Director of Communication and Studies at InfoJobs. Banking sources make a similar diagnosis: “Professionals in certain areas show a greater interest in teleworking. In this regard, the activities most related to technology stand out, in which teleworking is in greater demand”.

Víctor Pérez, a 33-year-old consultant, teleworks throughout his day. “I recently received an offer on LinkedIn. They specified that the position was 100% face-to-face. I replied that right now in no way would I consider a project without teleworking. Each job is different, but mine and my sector allow it perfectly, so I don’t think it’s acceptable that it’s not made easy”. This man from Madrid acknowledges that if the company does not offer remote work, it will “resign” him as a candidate.

Differences by sectors

According to the Infojobs report, along with technology companies and marketing and communication companies, those that offer the most telecommuting in their vacancies are commercial and sales, finance and banking, human resources and customer service. These data coincide, with important nuances, with those of the sectors whose workers believe that their activity can be carried out remotely. According to him latest report on teleworking prepared by the National Observatory of Technology and SocietyBy 2022, the sectors in which teleworking can be most developed are information and telecommunications, real estate activities, and financial and insurance activities. The report compares this data with another very relevant one: how many workers had enjoyed some form of teleworking in their sector until then.

The correlation between the possibility of teleworking and the vacancies that offer telework or the proportion of employees that have teleworked is not perfect. There is a link, but important differences can be seen. For example, in real estate activities, 87.2% of employees say they could telework, but only 37.1% have teleworked and it is only offered in 21% of offers (Infojobs includes construction in this section, which further shrinks the percentage).

The person in charge of Digitization of UGT, José Varela, believes that, even with the possibility of teleworking, the key difference in the implementation in each sector is due to the level of supply and demand for labor: “If in a sector there is a shortage of candidates , the company is forced to agree to what they ask for. And vice versa: if there are more candidates than offers, the company can defend its position more”. He believes that the size of the company is another differential factor: “In large companies we see a greater implementation of teleworking because there is a more expansive work culture. And within those large companies, you also see differences by department. In those related to technology there is a greater tendency to facilitate it”. The Infojobs specialist adds that the sectors that already promoted teleworking before the covid, such as technology, are also the most advanced today. “During the pandemic, many sectors verified that teleworking works, especially when it is hybrid and combines face-to-face and remote work. The sectors that now do not accept this reality will end up doing so”.

“generational” resistance

Espinosa de los Monteros believes that resistance to teleworking in sectors that could develop it is a “generational” issue. “Many bosses think that their task is to control each employee, to be attentive to what they do every minute. It is that toxic idea that encourages face-to-face contact, that if they don’t see you, you’re not working, they’ll look at you badly if you leave at 6:45 p.m. even though you’ve already met your goals,” adds this man from Madrid, who manages a team of 40 people. “Teleworking has no brake. What we are experiencing now are the typical resistances to change. When the controls rotate towards the new generations, face-to-face will disappear ”. Only 32% of workers, according to the same Infojobs survey, defend formulas without teleworking, compared to 54% who opt for hybrid models and 14% who request a completely remote system.

The person in charge of Digitization of the UGT further develops the idea raised by Espinosa de los Monteros: “The resistance is in the intermediate and superior positions who fear for their existence, for what they do not know. In the agreements in which we are managing to include teleworking, the most refractory element is always them. We need the culture of project work to be installed in our country, making it clear that constantly being in the office does not make you a better worker”. All in all, he is pessimistic: “We see a drop in employees who telework and the intensity with which they do so (number of days allowed). We expected it to move faster.”

Pérez, the consultant, assures that he receives job offers almost daily. “For what I do, there is a greater need for workers than candidates, so companies are more open to offering teleworking. But it shouldn’t be like that. You should be able to telework whenever possible. If the activity does not allow it, obviously not, but if you can, it is going against the future and against conciliation”. His wife is pregnant, so he has to go to the doctor often lately. “Now more than ever I am seeing the importance that it has in my life. Every two by three we have to go to the doctor and that way I can do it without a problem, much more easily”, he explains. “I don’t know how much they would have to multiply my salary to accept an offer without teleworking, a lot.”

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