Flexibility is key for business school students as they consider their future careers. According to a survey by Highered, which includes responses from over 1,000 business school students globally, almost half (49 percent) said that they are looking for hybrid employment, with a mix of onsite and remote work. Similar numbers prefer fully remote (27 percent) or fully onsite work (24 percent). And just over a quarter (26 percent) said that they would not work for an employer who requires employees to be fully onsite.
When students were asked to name the perceived advantages of remote work, over one-third named the freedom to live where they like (35 percent). 16 percent noted the ability to attend to family commitments. And 15 percent cited the ability to create their own work schedule. Among the perceived disadvantages of remote work, students named the lack of work/life balance (21 percent), pressure to work outside of core business hours (16 percent), and isolation/loneliness (14 percent).
Just over half of students responded that their business schools are preparing them with the necessary skills to lead remote teams (52 percent). In terms of soft skills needed for successful remote work, students named: self-motivation (35 percent), flexibility / adaptability (14 percent), discipline (13 percent), and time management (10 percent).
Student responses are in line with the market shifts driven by the pandemic and technological advances. According to Ladders, Inc., the availability of high-paying remote work has “exploded.” There were an estimated 4 percent of high paying (more than $100,000) remote jobs available pre-pandemic and just under 20 percent at the end of 2021. This number is expected to increase to about 25 percent by the end of this year.
Ladders, Inc. also analyzed the types of high-paying jobs with the most significant increases in remote work from March 2020 to mid-2021. They found that marketing, media, and design (+974 percent increase in remote opportunities, with more than 18 percent of careers available remotely) and project and program management (+801 percent increase in remote opportunities, with about 15 percent of opportunities available remotely) experienced the largest growth. Other roles with plentiful opportunities in remote work include: software engineers, account executives, development engineers, and data engineers.