Most remote workers will take flexibility over a raise. The number that gets thrown around is about 72%, and it matches what I see every day. People want to work around their kids, their gym, their life.
But here's the part nobody tells you. If you hand your team total freedom and let everyone log on and off whenever they feel like it, your coverage falls apart. Your chat queue sits empty. Your inbox backs up. And the two or three VAs who did show up on time get buried while everyone else is "flexible."
Most of our clients run lean. One or two staff, plus a few VAs spread across different time zones. There's no office. Nobody walks past a desk to see who's online. So when there's no structure, there's no coverage. It's that simple.
The job is to sit in the middle. Give people real control over their day, and still protect the hours your business actually needs someone at the wheel. That's the math of adherence.