Remote work has become increasingly prevalent in recent years, especially as the pandemic sped up its adoption.
Key Takeaways:
- Remote work is here to stay according to hiring managers and employees
- Remote and flexible work options are a priority for employees
- Companies with remote work policies are more diverse and have lower staff turnover
General Remote Work Statistics
Number of Remote Workers
1. ~62% of Employees Work Remotely Occasionally
Approximately 60% of employees that are aged twenty-two – sixty-five years old say that they work remotely at least occasionally.
Remote Worker Growth
2. Remote Workers Increased by 24%
The Covid-19 pandemic forced many people and businesses to adapt to new remote and hybrid work options. The latest data & surveys from multiple sources show that the number of workers choosing to work remotely increased by 24% over the previous year and the number of workers interested in office work has decreased by 24%.
3. 36 Million Remote Workers by 2025
Experts are predicting that by 2025, 36 million Americans will be working remotely at least some of the time, if not full-time. That’s a 417% increase when compared with the 7 million remote worker numbers before the pandemic.
Remote Work Benefits
4. Freedom & Flexibility Is Desired
65% of “creative” workers state freedom and flexibility as the number one reason that they prefer working remotely.
5. Remote Work Provides Greater Opportunities for People with Disabilities
The commute to and from a physical location has restricted many disabled workers from being able to locate appropriate work. The increase in remote work options caused by the pandemic has caused the share of people with disabilities working or looking for work to increase by 5% to 37.6%.
6. Remote Work Boosts Workforce Diversity
Remote work has improved workforce diversity for many major companies, with some reporting that diversity goals that were expected to take five years to meet will instead meet them in two. Meta (Facebook Owner) said the number of women, Black, and Hispanic employees will double by 2024.
Remote Work Challenges
7. 40% of Remote Workers Struggle to Disconnect from Work
Remote work has many benefits but one of the biggest concerns remote workers have is the difficulty that they face trying to “switch off” after work. Remote workers may enjoy more flexibility with where and when they work, but it means that the lines between their work and personal life have become significantly more blurred.
Remote Work Environment Impact
8. Remote Work Helps the Environment
During the height of the pandemic, the number of vehicles on the road was reduced to such an extent that studies show remote workers can help reduce greenhouse gas and carbon emissions by 54 million tons per year by eliminating unnecessary trips to a physical work space.
9. Remote Work Saves the Trees
In just America alone, 85 million tons of paper are used in the workplace every year: that’s the equivalent of 7 trees per person per year. With the pandemic forcing companies to make all documents available to their employees in a digital format, this has reduced the amount of paper used.
Employee Remote Work Statistics
Remote Workers by Gender
10. Men More Likely to Work Remotely
Although figures differ from region to region and country to country, on average men are 8% more likely to work remotely than women. This could be due to a number of factors, including but not limited to the types of work women and men tend to choose to do.
Remote Workers by Age
11. Millennials Prepared to Give Up Work Benefits for Remote Work
For millennial workers, remote work is so well desired that ~70% of them say that they’d be prepared to forego other work benefits in exchange for being allowed to work remotely.
12. All Generations Would Prefer to Work Remotely
When asked to choose between remote, hybrid, and in-office work, Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers all had remote work as their most popular choice. Millennials overwhelmingly chose this option, with 44% choosing it over in-office (19%) and hybrid (37%) work. Even 38% of the boomers surveyed chose remote work over 31% preferring in-office work.
Work Location Preferences
13. Coworking Spaces Are Not Desired
With increasing numbers of remote workers, there has also been a surge in the number of coworking spaces available for remote workers to use. However, the overwhelming majority of remote workers still prefer to work from home with some surveys placing the percentage as high as 84%. Coworking spaces, on the other hand, are preferred by just 8% of remote workers.
Remote Work Pros & Cons
14. Loneliness, Motivation, & Collaboration Are a Concern
Most remote workers (84%) state that motivation isn’t an issue for them; however, 14% do admit that motivation is an issue. Furthermore, 21% of workers state that not being able to collaborate is a problem, and an additional 21% stated loneliness is a major issue.
15. 77% of Remote Workers Report an Increase in Productivity
Despite employer concerns that remote work leads to reduced productivity, 77% of workers stated they felt their productivity increased when working remotely. 24% of remote workers state that they are able to accomplish more in the same amount of time as their in-office colleagues and 30% of workers claimed they were able to get more done in less time.
16. 88% of Remote Workers Are Happier
Remote workers report greater happiness than their in-office counterparts, with 88% saying they are happier when they are allowed to work remotely at least some of the time. Of the workers that reported greater happiness over 85% said they are better able to support their families, and over 80% reported an improvement in their mental health and their work-life balance.
17. Remote Workers Save $6,000 a Year
With no work commute, lunch being eaten at home, and work clothing not needing to be washed, remote workers save an average of $6,000 per year that in-office workers miss out on.
18. Remote Work Is Impacting Real Estate
With the location independence that can come with remote work, we shouldn’t be surprised to see that workers are choosing to move out of the city in search of a better deal and more space. 65% of workers said that if they are able to work remotely they will consider moving to somewhere cheaper and/or with more space.
19. Remote Workers Save an Average of 11 Days on Travel per Year
The pandemic brought into perspective just how much of their lives workers are typically spending commuting to and from the office. Workers that spend just 50% of their time working remotely save an average of 11 days of travel time per year! Extrapolating that further, we can see that a full-time remote worker regains 3 weeks of time when compared with a full-time in-office employee.
Employer Remote Work Statistics
Employer Workplace Policies
20. ~45% of Companies Globally Allow Zero Remote Work
Almost half of all companies around the world either can’t or won’t offer workers any kind of remote work options. Of the companies that do provide remote work options, only around a quarter of them provide any assistance setting up a worker’s home office.
21. 70% of US Mid-Size Companies Have Implemented Remote Work Policies
Two-thirds of US workers say that their employer has implemented remote work or other flexible work options. Of these, mid-size companies (501-5,000 employees) have adapted to offering employees remote and flexible working opportunities the quickest, with 7 out of 10 updating remote work policies.
Employer Workplace Changes
22. 82% of Company Leaders Plan to Let Employees Work Remotely
A Gartner study of 127 leaders from HR, Legal, Finance, and Real-Estate companies discovered that 4 out of 5 company leaders planned to allow employees to work remotely some of the time. Almost half of those surveyed plan on letting employees work remotely full-time.
23. By 2025, 22% of Workers Globally Will Work Remotely Full-Time
Post-pandemic, remote work is expected to continue to be the employees desired way of working with almost a quarter of employees predicted to be full-time remote workers by 2025. That’s an increase of 87% when compared with pre-pandemic numbers.
Management Statistics
24. 90% of Upper-Level Employees Expect to Work from Home
Despite the desire of executives and management to get workers back into the office following the ending of most Covid restrictions, nine out of ten management and executive personnel still expect to be allowed to work remotely themselves.
25. 15% of High-Paying Jobs Are Remote
Pre-pandemic, remote work was a luxury that was available to just 4% of high-paying jobs. During the pandemic, in 2020, that percentage increased to 9%, and today stands at 15%.
Remote Work Hiring Statistics
26. 86% of Hiring Managers Believe Remote Workers Are the Future
A large proportion of hiring managers (six out of seven) think that dynamic teams composed of remote workers, freelancers, and temporary staff is here to stay.
27. 25% Lower Employee Turnover
Companies that offer some form of remote work opportunity to new hires experience 25% lower employee turnover than those that offer no remote work at all.
28. Zero Flexible Working Policies Discourages Workers from Accepting a Job Offer
A huge 83% of workers said that if an employer offers no option of flexible working, they would turn down any job offer from that employer.
29. Half of Workers Would Take a Pay Cut to Work Remotely
Slightly more than half of all workers (52%) say that they would accept a pay cut of 5% to be allowed to work from home some of the time. Almost a quarter of workers (23%) are willing to accept a 10% or more pay cut to be allowed to work remotely full-time.
30. 63% of Workers Will Consider Changing Employer Without Remote Work Option
Employers should consider providing workers with some type of remote work option as the latest surveys show almost two-thirds of the workforce would strongly consider changing employment if their current employer has no plans to allow remote work in the future.
Remote Worker Productivity
31. Business Can Save $600 Billion a Year
Due to workplace distractions, businesses lose approximately $600 billion per year. Much of this could be saved by embracing remote work practices and improving employee productivity at home.
32. 32% of Managers Say Productivity Increased
One-third of managers agreed that employee productivity improved with the shift to remote work and 68% of enterprises say they also saw improved productivity from remote workers.
33. Employees Believe Productivity Has Stayed the Same or Improved
94% of surveyed employees said that worker productivity has not been affected negatively by remote work. 67% say that productivity remains the same, while 27% stated that productivity has actually increased.
34. 50% of Employers Believe Absenteeism Is Lower
According to employers, remote work has reduced the amount of time employees are absent and/or sick. Employees agree with this too, with 75% saying they have a better work-life balance, 50% saying they use fewer sick days, and 56% saying they have reduced absences.
Return to Office Statistics
35. ~20% of Employees Are Ignoring Return to Office Requests
In a sign of how important remote work has become to workers, almost one in five employees are choosing to ignore requests for them to return to in-office work and continue to work remotely.
36. 41% of Small Companies Require Employees to Return to In-Office Work
In the US, small companies (10-50 employees) are requiring workers to return to in-office work more so than large companies (10,000+ employees). Only 27% of large companies state that they are requiring workers to return to in-office work full-time.
International Remote Work Statistics
North America
37. 25% of All Professional Jobs Are Remote
By the end of 2022, one-quarter of all North American professional jobs were performed remotely and 16% of companies are fully remote. This is expected to continue increasing throughout 2023.
Africa
38. ~60-65% of Employees Have Access to Remote Work
Companies on the African continent have largely adapted to the post-Covid landscape and have extended the option of remote or hybrid work to almost two-thirds of the workforce.
Asia
39. Less Than 1 in 10 Employees Can Work Remotely
While remote work has largely been embraced by European and American employers, only 9% of companies in Asia provide their employees with any kind of remote work opportunities.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Many People Remote Work?
If you include any worker that works remotely at least some of the time, some surveys will show as many as 80%. However, a more reasonable estimate places it at around 62%.
Do Employers Like Remote Work?
There is a mixed consensus amongst some employers though for most employers, the benefits of remote work outweigh the disadvantages that might come with it.
How Many Employees Want Remote Work?
All generations of workers show a preference for working remotely full-time and only the Boomer generation state that they would rather return to full-time in-office work rather than a hybrid alternative.
How Many Remote Jobs Are There?
Remote job opportunities vary from industry to industry, region to region, and the number is constantly changing, but on average there are now 3 times more remote job opportunities than there were in 2020.
Are Remote Workers Less Productive?
No. Although some remote workers do report being more distracted when working away from the office it is only a small number. In fact, remote workers are generally as productive, and have been shown to be more so in recent surveys.
What Percentage of Companies Are Still Offering Remote Work?
The size of the company seems to be a contributing factor whether remote work is still being offered with 59% of small, 70% of mid-sized, and 73% of large companies offering remote and flexible work options.
Will Remote Work Continue This Year?
Yes. Workers are overwhelmingly in favor of remote and flexible working opportunities. The majority of workers say they would consider turning down a job offer that didn’t include some type of remote or flexible working options.
Can Employers Save Money with Remote Work?
Yes. With reduced physical space required to house employees while they work, employers can save money through reduced rent and utility bills. In some cases remote employees are also more productive, finishing more work in the same time as their in-office peers.
Sources
In addition to our own research, we’ve used parts of data from Global Work Place Analaytics, Owl Labs, Gartner, Remote Year, Statista, Flex Jobs, Upwork.
