“Ultimately can't say to somebody, ‘I'm going to decrease your salary because you've moved to Kerry’,” she said.
“But what you can do and what these companies are looking at potentially doing is paying less going forward in terms of bonuses and performance.”
Pleo noted that businesses are considering cutting salaries due to high costs, but Ms Reidy said they are also thinking about how to get people back in person.
“We see a lot of empty office spaces throughout the city,” she said.
“A lot of businesses have to consider what [remote work] would do for their attraction and retention.
“So, this is a strategic decision that needs to be made.”
Ms Reidy explained employers couldn’t literally cut down wages of remote workers but can find other ways to reward people who work in the office.
Deterring remote working
Several US multinationals are also mandating a return to the office, such as YouTube and Disney.
If European and Irish companies are trying to incentivise returns, however, Ms Reidy said they need to do more than focus on pay.
“If your business really needs people back at the office, you need to really validate why, because it’s not going to be a popular vote” she said.
“A lot of people are saying, ‘I need collaboration, I need more teamwork’.
“The decision is being made – whether we soften the labour market or not, I think this is a boardroom strategic decision overall.”
She added the results of the Pleo survey would be a “big shock” to many Irish workers with remote working becoming the norm across industries.
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