Tracking HackerNews' shifting preferences for remote jobs over 5 years
To fully understand the impact of remote work, it is necessary to look beyond the surface level and examine how the remote environment has become entrenched over time.
In the previous post, we shared the reasons for the deception of a universal remote work environment. Many creative collaborations happen outside the scheduled interactions, and collocation speeds up the collaboration exchange. In real life, collaboration often happens spontaneously and informally, and working in close physical proximity can facilitate this exchange. That motivates some leaders believe that remote work can result in a loss of creativity.
The covid-19 pandemic has drastically changed the landscape of work in the tech industry. Many companies have had to quickly transition to remote work, which has presented a unique set of challenges. Companies have had to adjust to new communication protocols, manage distributed teams, and ensure secure remote access to data and applications. To fully understand the impact of remote work, it is necessary to look beyond the surface level and examine how the remote environment has become entrenched over time.
Unraveling 5-Year Hiring Patterns and Insights
We decided to start with a tech market and examine the reaction to the post-Covid era, delve into the data, and extract insights that shed light on the changing preferences of remote work within the HackerNews community. We analyzed thousands of job listings at Ask HN: Who is hiring? section to better understand the preferences of candidates and the requirements of the employees. We analyzed the data from 2018 to June 2023
Based on the data, we can observe the following trends:
In 2018, approximately 23% of job listings on HackerNews were for remote work positions. In 2019, there was a slight increase in the percentage of remote work positions, with approximately 29% of job listings being for remote work.
In 2020, the trend continued with a further decrease in job postings for non-remote positions (3,087) and a significant increase in job postings for remote positions (4,277). This suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a surge in remote work across various industries, also influenced the HackerNews community's preferences. May was the first month the number of remote work outperformed the onsite positions, and the trend remained strong until thees days.
Continuing the upward trend, in 2021, the percentage of remote work positions climbed to 79% of all job listings on HackerNews. This significant increase indicates a strong preference for remote work within the community.
Despite experiencing a significant drop in the number of job openings, nearly halving year-over-year since June 2022, the community's preference for remote work has remained relatively unaffected.
As of 2023, up to June, the percentage of remote work positions remained high at 69% of all job listings. However the data presents a slight decline in the percentage of remote work positions within the HackerNews community. On average, only 70% of job postings were remote, marking a decrease compared to previous years. The trend reached its lowest point in May, with remote work positions comprising just 57% of job listings.
In addition to remote work preferences, another crucial aspect of the job market within the HackerNews community is the prevalence of location-specific or citizenship requirements.
Location-Restricted Remote Work Trends
While remote work offers the flexibility to work from anywhere, certain positions and industries may still necessitate candidates to be based in specific locations or possess specific citizenship qualifications. Understanding the dynamics of these requirements is essential for professionals seeking job opportunities and employers looking to attract suitable candidates.
The percentage of job descriptions with location-specific or citizenship requirements within the HackerNews community has steadily increased from 16% in 2018 to 37% in 2023 (up to June). This trend highlights a growing emphasis on hiring individuals who can be physically present in specific locations or possess the required citizenship, indicating a sustained demand for candidates with specific geographical qualifications.
The increase in job descriptions with location-specific or citizenship requirements within the HackerNews community can be attributed to several factors. Firstly, it is likely driven by companies adhering to legal obligations, especially those with government contracts or restrictions on hiring non-residential full-time employees due to jurisdictional limitations. Additionally, concerns about preserving company culture may prompt organizations to prioritize candidates who can be physically present in a specific location or possess specific citizenship, ensuring a cohesive organizational environment.
It is worth noting that the initial adopters of remote work were likely companies that had the ability to hire globally, as the supply of remote workers was relatively limited at that time. These companies recognized the benefits of accessing a larger talent pool and offering remote work options, which allowed them to attract skilled professionals from different parts of the world.
Unsurprisingly, the majority of location requirements correspond to the United States, followed by Canada and the European Union (EU).
Indeed, the migration trend away from expensive cities is not limited to specific regions but has been observed across the United States.As the concept of work becomes increasingly decoupled from traditional office spaces, individuals are finding the freedom to reside in locations farther away from urban centers or explore new regions. Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, remote work had already facilitated a notable migration of employees away from the most expensive cities:
While some may eventually return, a significant majority of these individuals are expected to establish permanent residences in their new locations.
Which programming languages are popular for remote work?
At the end we'd love to analyse the remote preferences of the programming language requirements in job positions:
- React, Python, and Java are the most frequently mentioned programming languages in job postings within the HackerNews community, with high total job counts for each language.
- The programming languages with the highest percentage of remote jobs out of all jobs that require the language / skills are TypeScript (70%), Postgres (61%), GraphQL (62%), and React (60%). These languages have a higher proportion of remote work opportunities compared to others. Python, JavaScript, Go, Ruby, and Node.js also have many remote jobs available.
- Java and C++, have a relatively lower percentage of remote jobs, ranging from 45% to 58%. Professionals specializing in these languages may find more on-site or location-specific employment opportunities within the HackerNews community.
Exploring the relationship between compensation and remote work, as well as delving into specific industries, adds further depth to understanding the dynamics of remote work but that requeres a more carefull data gatherings. Very few positions openly share the compensation ranges and mapping the industry requires intense human touch
Indeed, exploring the relationship between compensation and remote work, as well as analyzing specific industries, can provide valuable insights into the dynamics of remote work. The availability of detailed compensation information for remote positions is often limited, as companies may not openly disclose salary ranges in job postings.
Conclusion
Based on the analysis of the data provided, it is evident that remote work has gained significant popularity within the HackerNews community, particularly in the field of computer science and entrepreneurship. The number of job postings for remote positions has shown a consistent increase over the years, with a substantial surge observed in 2021. This suggests that remote work has become an attractive option for both employers and job seekers at least within the community.
The COVID-19 pandemic is likely a contributing factor to the increased preference for remote work, as it accelerated the adoption of remote work practices globally. However, it is important to note that even before the pandemic, remote work was already being considered by a considerable number of employers within the HackerNews community.
If you're the researcher and interested to play around the data, contact d@spatial.chat to request the dataset. We plan to open-source the dashboards and the dataset in the nearest future. Stay tuned!
Disclaimers:
- The report, created by SpatialChat, the company that designs a virtual office product specifically for remote teams. Therefore, we are particularly interested in the growing abundance of remote job opportunities.
- This data highlights that a majority of job postings within the HackerNews community have specified locations within the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Germany. Therefore, it is not possible to draw conclusions about global market trends.
- Data primarily reflects the preferences and practices of tech companies, which are often at the forefront of work flexibility In 2022, the U.S. had a working population of around 160 million people, of which less than 5% worked in the tech industry.
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