At the beginning of this year, the job opportunities JobLine had were mostly for in-office designers. Some employers were looking ahead to the summer rush and made a few proactive remote designer hires in March, but only a few.
As the season approached, more remote options were on the table, but I warned candidates to be careful when leaving a good desk job to venture into the remote world. Too many employers may only be looking for a seasonal fix, which can lead to curtailed hours or remote designer layoffs when the season slows.
Fast forward to the fall and searches for remote positions have almost completely dried up. I still have a few clients who are receptive when the remote design candidate is a superstar, but they are the exception not the rule.
What caught me by surprise, however, is in-office designer searches—they didn’t dry up when expected. Even though the busy season is fading, good jobs remain available. My guess is that employers know hiring someone who will work in the office is not something that can happen on demand. They have to hire when the right candidate is available. As a result, we now have on-going searches for in-office designers at almost every employer location.
When the slow season starts, we’ll see if remote designers have the same benefit of retention as their in-office counterparts. In the meantime, opportunities remain for in-office candidates.
Next month:
Remote design’s glass ceiling