5 Red Flags That a Company Doesn't Value Remote Employees

After a year or more of working remotely due to COVID-19, a large group of American workers want the situation to be permanent. One in two remote workers said they will quit their job if their company doesn't allow them to stay remote full time, and a recent survey by Owl Labs found that 59% of respondents would be more likely to choose an employer who offered remote work over one that didn’t. 

If you're looking for a remote role in 2021 — whether through your current employer or through a new one — it's worth taking the time to consider not only if remote work is a possibility, but if you will be supported as a remote employee. After all, there's no use starting a job and quitting months later because no one is willing to give you the tools to succeed. 

Below, we've listed five red flags that an employer doesn't value its remote employees. Hopefully, this list can help you choose your next remote role carefully. 

If your prospective employer hasn't taken the time to learn how to train remote employees — from how to use their technology to best practices for communicating with their team — they probably haven't spent a lot of time thinking about the unique remote experience. This signals a lack of investment and, potentially, a lack of support. 

If your prospective employer doesn't have routine events that encourage remote and non-remote employees to get to know each other, they aren't putting effort into making remote teammates feel included. Loneliness and a lack of visibility are two commonly cited downsides of working remotely — but they're issues that are pretty easily overcome with effort from employers. Find a proactive company, not one that doesn't take the time to make teams feel like teams. 

If your team is made up of remote and non-remote employees and you don't have standards for how to make sure everyone is included and heard, your employer isn't investing in its remote employees. Employers who care about supporting their remote employees make sure that meetings rooms have the proper technology and that leaders know how to make the proper space — and they make sure these standards are followed every time.

If an employer calls themselves "remote friendly" but doesn't have anyone in leadership roles working remotely, it's worth asking why. If working remotely is reserved for roles with no upward mobility — or no organizational weight — it may not be the best place to invest your time.

If senior management of the employer has made a bold statement about the negative qualities of remote employees, it's clear where they stand. If the tone from the top is that remote employees aren't valuable, other levels of the company will feel that way, too. Monkey see, monkey do.