By the end of 2024, a whopping 90% of businesses plan to implement return-to-office guidelines. According to data compiled by ResumeBuilder, remote employment has seen a significant decline over the past year.
Certain remote positions that were in high demand during the COVID-19 pandemic are becoming tougher to find as more companies impose return-to-office requirements. GOBankingRates spoke with several career experts about the decline in remote job postings and the reasons why employers are less interested in filling these positions.
Human Resources
Companies that moved human resources jobs out of the office during the COVID-19 pandemic are now bringing those jobs back in.
“Human resources benefit from face-to-face interaction,” said Cenedella. “It’s likely companies see value in bringing these workers back to the office, at least part-time.”
Sales
The field of sales is not necessarily in decline. Instead, according to Marc Cenedella, career consultant and creator of Ladders, in-person sales positions are replacing remote ones or evolving into hybrid roles.
Customer Support
The customer support profession is another remote job that is on the wane. Work in these traditional administrative jobs is rapidly being mechanized through the use of AI and chatbots, much like data entry.
According to Lindemoen, companies can focus more on tasks that require higher levels of creativity, critical thinking and teamwork, all of which are more difficult to automate.
Telemarketers
According to Nathan Brunner, CEO of Job Board Salarship, telemarketing jobs are disappearing more and more.
According to Brunner, one reason for the decline in these jobs is that the FTC is cracking down on unauthorized telemarketing calls as part of Operation Stop Spam Calls.
Data Entry
The number of remote data entry jobs is falling, according to Enjoy Mondays’ creator Travis Lindemoen.
The reason may or may not be related to workers returning to the office. Instead, it’s an example of how AI is evolving. According to Lindemoen, chatbots and AI are able to handle regular activities more effectively and are automating more and more data entry tasks.