Generally accepted wisdom would have it that if you work hard, you’ll be rewarded with a promotion.
A nice title, cushy pay packet and all that goes along with it––and possibly even a seat at the decision-making table––are in your future.
But work doesn’t often play ball like that. In fact, the route to a promotion can be a bit of a roller coaster as opposed to that nice, linear upward trajectory you might have envisaged as a fresh-out-of-uni grad.
You might get passed over, or you might end up at a company that doesn’t do internal promotions, instead preferring to hire from outside. You could just be in a role where there’s simply no scope to move up a level. In those cases, you can consider looking for a new job.
3 great job opportunities to discover now
Then, there is the insidious rise of what’s being called a ‘dry’ promotion to consider. This is when you get offered a new job title and responsibilities, with none of the accompanying fun stuff like more money, extra holiday days or a pension contribution bump.
These are increasingly common, with a Korn Ferry report finding that 37% of firms handed out dry promotions last year.
It is worth watching out for, as is the rise of another recent promotion trend. With companies such as computer maker Dell announcing that remote or hybrid workers will be at a disadvantage when it comes to career progression, workers are worried.
“Career advancement, including applying to new roles within the company, will require a team member to reclassify as hybrid onsite,” a recent Dell memo said, making it clear that if staff want to stay working on a remote basis, then they can expect their progression to stall.
Dell is by no means the only company to instigate a new policy around remote work. In January, UPS announced it was cutting 12,000 of its 85,000 management jobs––and if you weren’t out, you’d be expected back in the office five days a week starting from March.
New data from employment-data provider Live Data Technologies, which analysed “two million white-collar workers”, shows that over the past year, remote workers were promoted 31% less frequently than those who worked in an office, either full-time or on a hybrid basis.
This isn’t so surprising when you find that nearly 90% of chief executives who were surveyed by KPMG last year said that when it comes to the best projects, raises and promotions, it is the people who come into the office that they’re more likely to favour.
Proximity bias on the rise
This is what’s known as proximity bias, and has been bubbling under since companies began to roll back on pandemic-era flexible working schedules. Now, 64% of the 1,300 CEO-level respondents to the survey believe that everybody will be back to working from the office by 2026.
But while bosses want people back in the office, often for command and control reasons, workers feel differently.
Recent salary survey research also found that 53% of UK professionals said they’d look for a new job if they were told they’d have to work more days in the office.
Despite this, the survey found that for UK workers, hybrid-working remains in the top three most-desired benefits across every professional field.
In the U.S., salaries too, are reflecting a move back to the office, and we can expect the trend to travel. The percentage of high-paying roles of $100,000 or more, which are available to work on a hybrid schedule, fell 40% during the first quarter of 2024, according to a recent report from Ladders.
Remote work now makes up just 9% of six-figure career opportunities, with in-person roles now accounting for 89% of high-paying jobs.
It’s not all doom and gloom: a study by Boston Consulting Group and Scoop Technologies analysed data from 554 public companies across 20 sectors, and discovered that organisations with liberal remote work policies actually have the edge when it comes to revenue growth.
Find your dream role, whether remote, hybrid or in-office, on the Metro Jobs Board now.
Follow Metro across our social channels, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Share your views in the comments below
MORE : Struggling to find a job? These are the UK’s most in-demand roles
MORE : Quiet vacationing is on the rise — but why should we fear taking time off?
MORE : ‘Stress bragging’ at work has a major downside
Sign up to our guide to what’s on in London, trusted reviews, brilliant offers and competitions. London’s best bits in your inbox
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.