New Data Reveals "Growth Gap": The Quiet Strategy Reshaping Remote Work
- Jonathan H. Westover, PhD
- 4 hours ago
- 4 min read
While remote work has tripled in popularity since 2019, according to recent research, with 30% of US workers now preferring fully remote arrangements compared to only 10% in 2019, companies are increasingly leveraging what Careerminds calls "Growth Gap".
The pattern is clear: by systematically denying remote workers access to high-value development opportunities while mandating returns to office, organizations can pressure employees to leave voluntarily, avoiding severance costs and negative publicity associated with layoffs.
New research from Careerminds, which surveyed over 1,000 full-time U.S. workers across multiple industries, exposes this troubling trend. Revealing that remote workers face significant disparities in both pay progression and career development opportunities.
What Is the Growth Gap?
The Growth Gap refers to the widening divide in career development, visibility, and pay progression between remote and in-office workers. It represents a new form of workforce inequality, one where opportunity, not performance, determines advancement.
Development Gap Drives Pay Inequality for Remote Workers
Careerminds’ research reveals that this Growth Gap is driven by unequal access to professional development. While remote workers often receive virtual training and online mentorship, in-office employees have greater access to face-to-face workshops, leadership programs, and formal certifications, the types of credentials that organizations typically reward with higher pay and promotions.
Key disparities include:
Leadership programs: 17% of remote workers vs. 23% of in-office employees
Technical skill certifications: 11.3% of remote workers vs. 21.55% of in-office employees
Soft-skill certifications: 12.2% of remote workers vs. 17.5% of in-office employees
Exposure to executive meetings or leadership presentations: 12.7% for remote vs. 17.2% for in-office
Meetings or informal dinners with stakeholders or clients: 7.5% for remote vs. 9.7% for in-office
Remote workers also miss out on informal development opportunities such as shadowing colleagues and cross-department projects, all activities that increase visibility and influence within organizations.
As a result, nearly half (48%) of remote workers say they feel overlooked for promotions, projects, or development opportunities, even when their performance equals that of their in-office peers.
Remote Workers Receive Smaller Pay Increases
The survey also found that pay progression reflects the same Growth Gap. While 74% of remote employees and 75% of in-office workers received a raise in the past year, remote workers were far more likely to receive smaller increases:
Only 4.5% of remote employees earned raises of 10% or more, compared to 6.9% of in-office colleagues.
14.6% of remote employees received less than a 2% increase, compared to 11.5% of in-office workers.
These findings suggest that the pay gap isn’t about performance; it’s about visibility and access to the types of opportunities that drive advancement.
Over Half of Remote Workers Considering Quitting
The consequences of the Growth Gap are already apparent. The data found that 55.2% of remote workers report they’ve considered leaving their roles due to limited career development, signaling that organizations without fair growth frameworks risk losing high-performing remote talent.
When career advancement feels dependent on face-to-face time rather than performance and capability, even top performers will start looking elsewhere. Remote employees might deliver stronger results than in-office counterparts, but if they don't see pathways for advancement, loyalty and motivation can erode quickly.
According to Raymond Lee, President of Careerminds: “The disparity in compensation reveals a fundamental problem with how many organizations approach career development in a hybrid world. While remote workers are receiving development opportunities, they're often the wrong type when it comes to driving pay increases and promotions. Companies need transparent, location-agnostic frameworks that ensure all employees have equal pathways to advancement and fair compensation. Otherwise, they risk losing not just people, but their best remote talent.”
Sources
Campaign methodology: This survey was conducted by Careerminds in October 2025, gathering insights from 1,000 full-time U.S. workers across a range of industries to understand how their working arrangements (remote vs. in-office) influence access to upskilling, pay progression, and career advancement.
About Careerminds: Careerminds, a career.io brand, is a leading global outplacement, career development, and coaching provider that offers customized solutions and world-class software to help companies support employees in career transition and development. Combining cutting-edge technology with personalized, one-on-one career coaching allows us to deliver customized services in over 80 languages and every major market globally at a lower cost than traditional firms. Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X, and YouTube.
About Raymond Lee: Raymond Lee is the President of Careerminds, a contemporary global outplacement firm headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware. He has over 25 years of human resource, outplacement, and career coaching experience. He is also an industrial/organizational psychologist and a certified retirement coach. Raymond has contributed to SHRM, ATD, and other publications on the future of work, employee experience, outplacement, offboarding, and career fulfillment and has been featured in media outlets including SiriusXM Business Radio, Career Talk, HR Podcasts, and The Wall Street Journal. He is an active speaker through the SHRM’s speaker’s bureau and author of the book, Clocking Out: A Stress-Free Guide to Career Transitions. Raymond holds a bachelor’s in psychology and a master’s degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Louisiana Tech University. Follow Raymond on Instagram and connect with him on LinkedIn.
