Workers Would Take Pay Cuts For These Top-Tier Perks

A significant percentage of workers would take substantial pay cuts for coveted perks and benefits — including remote work.

According to the Philadelphia Business Journal citing a State of Hybrid Work report from Owl Labs, about 42% of workers would take a 15% pay cut for fully remote work — including 17% that would take a 20% cut.

Only 15% wouldn't take any level of pay cut for fully remote work, while 9% of employees said they already had it.

At a time when companies' focus is largely shifting from recruitment to retention, worker expectations around benefits are growing, and the Owl Labs report shows employees are willing to put a price tag on several benefits.

That said, employers probably shouldn’t try to cut pay when they offer certain benefits, said Frank Weishaupt, CEO of Owl Labs.

“Flexibility is now what employees have come to expect if employers want them back in the office – there cannot be a dock in pay or other benefits because employees now value these benefits over others,” Weishaupt said in an email. “Providing tangible assistance in the form of commuting stipends, childcare stipends, and more company culture activities will ultimately increase retention and save you money in the long run.”

The Owl Labs survey also found:

• Most workers would take some kind of pay cut for a four-day workweek consisting of four, eight-hour days, with 16% saying they would take a pay cut of 20%.
• Large numbers of workers would take a pay cut for more vacation time, with 16% saying they would take a pay cut of 20% or more. Eleven percent said they would not take a pay cut for the benefit.
• While fully remote work was highly sought after, workers would also take a pay cut for more flexible working hours too, with 61% of workers saying they would take a pay cut of 10% or more. Only 9% said they wouldn’t take some kind of pay cut, and 15% said they already had flexible hours.

The strong desire for flexibility and other perks will make it a challenge for companies that want to return to the fully in-office paradigm that existed before the pandemic, Weishaupt said.

However, not all of the perks cost money or require more vacation time, Weishaupt said, noting that 33% of workers said they would consider returning to the office if there was a way to know who would be there, and 28% saying they would like to go to the office and see their friends at work — in short, social connection.

“Instead of perks like snacks in the company kitchen, try organizing monthly or quarterly outings for the team that can help build rapport and encourage a positive culture,” he said.

Workers pay a price to commute

Part of the focus on flexible work locations and hours, along with fully-remote work, stems from the cost of commuting, as workers do the math on how much it costs to come into work every day. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce calculated the cities with the costliest commutes by comparing the average commute time in each city with the median income for full-time, year-round workers. Nationwide, commuters experience an annual “wage loss,” or commute cost in time, of about $5,748 a year — roughly $22.11 per workday.