The surge in working from home following the Covid-19 pandemic is reversing as companies coax employees back to the office.
South African developers are slowly being asked to go back into the office, with employers making changes to remote work policies that have leaned towards hybrid working arrangements.
This is according to the 2024 OfferZen State of the Developer Nation (SODN) published this week.
“While South African developers have largely avoided a mass return to the office, they are starting to see a change in their remote policies,” said the report. “Thirty percent of hybrid developers in 2024 used to be fully remote, while 15% of fully office based developers had a hybrid policy last year.”
According to the report, 17% of developers have experienced a policy change away from being fully remote in the last 12 months. The trend, said OfferZen, suggests that South African companies are slowly going back to the office.
But this is not true for all organisation, as some are embracing remote work even more intensely. “Fully remote companies are doubling down on freedom of movement,” said the OfferZen report.
Digital nomads
Also on the rise is the number of remote developers living locally while working for international companies, which has doubled in the past 24 months, according to OfferZen.
The department of home affairs recently published amendments to legislation regarding to digital nomad visas to attract more such developers into the country to help stimulate the economy.
“More developers have the option to work from anywhere in the world. Almost half of fully remote developers can now work from anywhere in the world (up from 32.6% in 2023). For another one in four, they only need to be based in the same country as their company,” said the report.
Read: Software developer salaries in South Africa are shrinking
As far as rankings go, remote work is still the working arrangement most preferred by developers, followed by hybrid and then full-time office-based setups.
Fully remote developers who have been switched to hybrid setups report missing the perks of a fully remote arrangement.
Companies are warned not to make radical changes to their remote work policy as this may lead to attrition.
“Developers are showing a clear preference for remote work that’s not just theoretical. In reality, the majority would leave a role if their company required them to return to the office full time,” said OfferZen. – © 2024 NewsCentral Media
