Commuting patterns have drastically changed due to remote work, with many workers no longer facing daily commutes. This reduction in travel frees up time for personal activities and contributes to diminished traffic congestion and lower carbon emissions, as noted by U.S. These remote work statistics environmental benefits underscore remote work’s potential for creating a more sustainable and eco-friendly way of living. As one objective measure of productivity, 77% of remote workers clocked in more hours in 2022 than they did three years earlier (Robert Half, 2023).
In the US alone, the number of digital nomads has more than doubled from 7.3 million in 2019 to 15.5 million in 2021. An equal percentage of remote employees, 21% to be exact, say that working across time zones, difficulty focusing, and staying motivated are their struggles when working offsite. It turns out that remote work isn’t only beneficial for employees and their employers but also for the environment. Work-from-home employees don’t commute daily, dramatically reducing the amount of pollution they’re responsible for.
Future-Forward Leadership
This could be due to reduced commute times, fewer in-person distractions or the ability to design a work environment that suits their needs. If you look at 20- to 29-year-olds, they have a very strong preference for having at least two, three days a week on site. Strategically, as a company, if you want to hire people like my students from Stanford, it’s not that appealing being fully remote.
- As we’ve already mentioned, 30% of companies still don’t allow remote work, even though it obviously has positive effects on employee morale and engagement at work.
- Employers should be aware that different groups perceive and experience remote work differently and consider how flexible working fits with their diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies.
- Virtual collaboration tools have enabled these industries to operate effectively, irrespective of location.
- The computer and IT sector leads as the top industry for remote work in 2023 [6].
- However, managers and employees alike seem pleased with the effects of working from home.
Remote work statistics from 2022 show that the second-biggest benefit seen by 62% of remote workers is the flexibility to work from any location. Having more time, thanks to not having to commute, is cited as a benefit by 59% of respondents. People who work remotely love their improved work-life balance so much that a majority would even take a pay cut to have flexible working hours. This and other startling statistics about remote work can provide guidelines to business leaders on how to proceed with the workforce post-COVID-19 pandemic. According to remote work statistics unveiled by Upwork’s Future Workforce Pulse report, 19.4 million Americans worked remotely in the pre-pandemic era.
Remote Work Stats
Person X is speaking and you can see his or her ear or part of their neck or their leg, and that’s it. There are a number of elite jobs that have to be in person. But you’re correct that if you look at people that are fully remote, they don’t tend to be—apart from Airbnb and a few big tech or smaller startup firms— a lot of them are call centers, payroll processing, HR, benefits. The evidence is, if it’s well organized, there’s pretty much no major downsides. Fully remote has more major upsides but starts to incur some big costs.
As we navigate through the ever-evolving world of post-pandemic work in 2023, several key remote work statistics stand out. They not only offer insight into the current state of remote work but also provide a glimpse into its future. Though more likely to be laid off, remote employees — who see flexible work as equivalent to an 8% raise — are also more likely to quit. To sum it up, I would call this remote working trend a big revolution in working practices rather than just a change of paradigm. This is not a mere relocation of collaboration logistics online.
Segment: Employee perspective
A closer look at the demographics of remote work in 2023 offers fascinating insights into who is embracing this work model and how it’s affecting their livelihoods. According to Upwork, by 2025, an estimated 32.6 million Americans will be working remotely, which equates to about 22% of the workforce [2]. This projection suggests a continuous, yet gradual, shift towards remote work arrangements. Other tech workers are «loud quitting» — or pushing back on management while collecting a paycheck and looking for a new gig — in protest of in-office mandates. Then, cultural differences come into play from the small things (like holiday time off) to the big (communication norms).
- It’s been a developing trend for years, or even decades now, but the COVID-19 pandemic has put the process into overdrive.
- Here is a list of virtual meeting platforms and a guide to remote meeting etiquette.
- Meanwhile, these data give us early insight into how the working world is evolving.
- Brainstorming is all about speed, wit, and bouncing ideas around the room.
The wide variety of these roles signifies the expanding scope of remote work across different fields. Shifting the lens to the most sought-after remote job roles, accountant tops the list in 2022. This showcases how traditional office functions, such as accounting, can successfully adapt to a remote format. Marketing, accounting and finance, and project management have embraced remote work, using digital tools and platforms to ensure work continuity.
Most Americans Who Go to Religious Services Say They Would Trust Their Clergy’s Advice on COVID-19 Vaccines
Still, many small businesses, as well as larger companies, are requiring employees to return to the office. Employers may still worry about the effect remote work has on company culture, but most workers do not share this concern. The greater risk to culture could be not providing options for work location flexibility that match what employees desire and make them more productive. Gallup research https://remotemode.net/ suggests that a mismatch between where employees work best and where they are required to work could impair employee engagement, and ultimately, employee retention. Monthly trend from April 2020 to September 2021 in amount U.S. employees are working remotely/from home. Most recently, 25% worked exclusively from home, and 20% worked some of the time from home, for a total of 45% working remotely.
Employers and HR professionals are adapting by leveraging technology and innovative strategies to recruit and retain top talent without geographical constraints. Whether this has been positive or negative is a matter of debate. In time, the full impact of flexible working will be revealed. Meanwhile, these data give us early insight into how the working world is evolving. The third edition of McKinsey’s American Opportunity Survey provides us with data on how flexible work fits into the lives of a representative cross section of workers in the United States.
