Ultimate Software, a leading global provider of human capital management (HCM) and employee experience solutions in the cloud, today released a new data report on the state of remote work and employee attitudes in the United States.

Remote work has reached a tipping point, moving from emerging trend to new workplace reality—an estimated 23% of the U.S. workforce now works remotely at least part of the time. With 40% of its own employee population working virtually, Ultimate explores the changing preferences and perceptions on both sides of the virtual divide in a new report, titled “The Remote Workforce Becomes the Empowered Workforce.” Ultimate surveyed 1,000 full-time employees in the United State working for companies with a mix of remote and in-office employees, looking at how remote workers and their in-office counterparts prefer to communicate and collaborate, manage their peers, and engage with HR.

Signs Remote Workers are Pulling Ahead in Career Growth

The study found that, thanks to supportive managers and the right technology tools, remote workers are thriving, and in some ways even pulling ahead of their in-office peers. Compared with in-office workers, remote workers are:

• 40% more likely to have been promoted in the past year.
• 27% more likely to feel there is opportunity for growth in their current job.

Moreover, 74% of remote workers agree that their company is invested in their career growth, vs. 65% of in-office employees.

Technology is Giving Remote Employees a Voice, HR Takes Notice

Technology is adapting quickly to accommodate the new reality of remote work, and savvy employees are leveraging it to make collaboration and feedback a better process for everyone:

• Nearly one in three employees are using technology platforms for giving and receiving feedback, and those who don’t have it want it.
• 70% of managers think they’d work better with their direct reports if they had software that would help them better understand reports’ feelings and deliver regular, anonymized feedback.

Overall, employees feel understood by their HR departments, but remote workers are more likely to proactively reach out and leverage HR for help, largely because of technology.

• 43% of remote workers proactively leverage HR to resolve issues often or very often, compared with 33% of in-office employees.
• Remote employees report higher overall job satisfaction than in-office workers.

“For a long time, we’ve been worried that remote workers are being left out or left behind. The data in this new report show us remote workers are not only being treated equally, they’re thriving—and a big part of that is thanks to the emergence of HR-focused technology that enables seamless connection between the office and virtual employees,” said Annmarie Neal, chief human resources officer at Ultimate. “As an HR technology company motivated by improving the employee experience for all people, we’re excited to see that remote employees report high job satisfaction and potential for growth—and we’re also inspired by the areas of improvement revealed in the data. The future of work is here, and it’s up to HR to lead the way to a better employee experience, no matter where people work.”

For more information and complete details, download the full report at www.ultimatesoftware.com/RemoteWorkResearch.