IT Pros Value Work-Life Balance and Remote Work Opportunities Over Other Benefits

The number of people working remotely rose sharply during the global pandemic, and, since then, the opportunity for remote work has remained important to tech professionals and others. 

In fact, work-life balance and remote work topped the list of priorities for open source pros considering a new role, according to the recent 2024 Open Source Professionals Job Survey Report from Open Source JobHub (OSJH) and Linux Professional Institute (LPI). Together, these factors were cited as most important to respondents (92%) when applying for or choosing a job.

Remote work is already more common in tech than in other industries and has become an accepted part of the workflow, with many organizations adopting tools and processes to support it. “People working in open source are already accustomed to dealing with collaborators over long distances,” the report says. “Managers may balk at requests to work remotely, and certain administrative tasks do require on-site personnel, but distributed teams have proven to be highly effective in open source.”

Other Benefits

Working remotely can result in various benefits as well, “notably a habit of documenting decisions and activities so that everyone in the organization can find out what is happening and understand the history behind decisions,” the report states.

And, in the recent IT Pro Salary Survey Report, more than half of respondents (56%) said working remotely had a positive impact on their mental health. 

Other research also supports the importance of remote work to IT professionals. According to recent data from Dice, for example, “73% of surveyed tech professionals said it is “extremely” or “very” important that their next role includes the option to work remotely at least three days a week.”

Get Further Insight

As organizations increasingly adopt open source software, understanding what matters to skilled open source pros is key, and the free 2024 Open Source Professionals Job Survey Report offers further insight for both job seekers and hiring managers. 

Download the complete report to learn more.