More than half of tech professionals would take a pay cut to work from home
Working from home is something of a luxury, but it's also not easy -- this is something I know from personal experience. I've been a home worker for around a decade now, but it does take some getting used to. Tell people that you work from home and there's usually a look of jealousy in the eyes the ones who have to stay behind at the office each evening. Home working means being able to pick your own hours, not having to deal with the daily commute, and not having to do the coffee round, but would you be happy to pay for the privilege?
We already know that most people would rather work from home than have to trudge to the office every day, but a new report from GetVoIP reveals that taking a pay cut would be an acceptable compromise for most tech professionals. A survey of 501 workers shows that 53 percent would be willing to earn a smaller pay check each month if it meant they could work from the comfort of their own home.
But just how much of a pay cut? On average, workers said they would accept a $6,764 reduction in their annual salary, or 7.9 percent (based on average tech earnings as determined by Dice.com). Some people were willing to take a bigger cut. More than 6 percent would accept a 31 percent cut -- willing to lose almost a third of their income to work from inside their own four walls.
The figures show that we're keener on the idea of working from home than a couple of years ago. Back in 2011, 35 percent of those asked said a pay cut would be a fair price to pay to work from home, while in 2008, 37 percent felt the same way.
Of course this leaves 47 percent of those questioned who answered "none" when asked "How big of a pay cut would you take in order to work from home?" This could mean they simply have no interest in telecommuting, or the benefits of homeworking are insufficient to warrant earning less money.
Image Credit: Roobcio / Shutterstock