Before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 17 percent of U.S. employees worked from home 5 days or more per week, a share that increased to 44 percent during the pandemic. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the remote working trend, as quarantines and lockdowns made commuting and working in an office close to impossible for millions around the world. Remote work, also called telework or working from home (WFH), provided a solution, with employees performing their roles away from the office supported by specialized technology, eliminating the commute to an office to remain connected with colleagues and clients. What enables working from home?

To enable remote work, employees rely on a remote work arrangements that enable hybrid work and make it safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Technology supporting remote work including laptops saw a surge in demand, video conferencing companies such as Zoom jumped in value, and employers had to consider new communication techniques and resources. Is remote work the future of work?

The response to COVID-19 has demonstrated that hybrid work models are not necessarily an impediment to productivity. For this reason, there is a general consensus that different remote work models will persist post-COVID-19. Many employers see benefits to flexible working arrangements, including positive results on employee wellness surveys, and potentially reducing office space. Many employees also plan on working from home more often, with 25 percent of respondents to a recent survey expecting remote work as a benefit of employment. As a result, it is of utmost importance to acknowledge any issues that may arise in this context to empower a hybrid workforce and ensure a smooth transition to more flexible work models.

The trend of working remotely has been slowly increasing globally since 2015, with a *** to ***** percent annual increase rate. However, the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 upended the world economy and global markets. Employment trends were no exception to this, with the share of employees working remotely increasing to some ** percent in 2022 from just ** percent two years prior. The industry with the highest share of remote workers globally in 2023 was by far the technology sector, with over ** percent of tech employees worldwide working fully or mostly remotely. How are employers dealing with remote work? Many employers around the world have already adopted some remote work policies. According to IT industry leaders, reasons for remote work adoption ranged from a desire to broaden a company’s talent pool, increase productivity, and reduce costs from office equipment or real estate investments. Nonetheless, employers worldwide grappled with various concerns related to hybrid work. Among tech leaders, leading concerns included enabling effective collaboration and preserving organizational culture in hybrid work environments. Consequently, it’s unsurprising that maintaining organizational culture, fostering collaboration, and real estate investments emerged as key drivers for return-to-office mandates globally. However, these efforts were not without challenges. Notably, ** percent of employers faced employee resistance to returning to the office, prompting a review of their remote work policies.

In 2022, around ** percent of respondents stated that their biggest struggle when working remotely was staying at home too often because there they don't have reason to leave. Moreover many people who work from home do not necessarily have a designated workspace, they experience a conflation between their living area and workplace. Most notably, around ** percent of respondents reported loneliness as their biggest struggle with working remotely. As a result, remotely working employees emphasize the importance of finding strategies to balance their private lives with their professional routines. On the other hand, employees also state having less difficulties with collaboration and communication in 2021. This is likely due to the quick cultivation of skills during the 2020 pandemic that allow them to effectively communicate and collaborate with others when working from different locations. Challenges inherent in new work set-ups As employees work from different locations, companies are confronted with the urgency to ease some of the challenges inherent in novel hybrid work solutions. Strategies developed to support remote work include training for employees or expanding information technology infrastructure to ensure that employees can collaborate efficiently from different locations. The future of work Certainly, it is important to take the challenges experienced by employees seriously as the current telework trend is likely to continue and become a common way of working in the future. Addressing challenges head-on in the present will ensure better working conditions in the future.

With 56 percent, most respondents state they have been working remotely for less than a year. This is the case as many employees around the world had been pushed out of the office and into their home for work due to COVID-19. As a result of these circumstances, many of these employees identify as remote workers now.

In 2021, ** percent of respondents currently working at least partially outside the office indicated that their company has a 100 percent remote policy. This is a slight increase from the previous year. Only ** percent of respondents stated that remote work in their company is allowed but not the norm, down from ** percent in 2020. Global shift to new work in 2020 In 2020, the outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic led to a shift from work in the office to work from home, to keep the workforce and the community safe. While this created some struggles in the beginning, many organizations and employees have since adapted and are thriving. Many employees appreciate the benefits of working remotely. Accordingly, one in two individuals indicate that the ability to work remotely is an important decision factor for future employment. Companies experiment with hybrid work models As a result, many companies worldwide are updating their policies to accommodate this new way of working. These include a combination of both flexibility on work location and productive in-person and digital collaboration opportunities. For this reason, organizations are not only actively monitoring both employee well-being and productivity but are also evolving operations to support a hybrid workforce.

A 2022 survey found that 25 to 35 year old's were the mostly likely to be offered full-time remote work. In comparison, only ** percent of 55 to 65 year old's reported that they had the opportunity to work remotely full-time. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many workers across the U.S. began working remotely for the first time. The popularity of remote work has continued as pandemic restrictions have relaxed.

In a global survey conducted with CIOs, respondents stated that fully remote work will likely transition to hybrid work in the future. About 15 to 16 percent stated their companies’ workforce worked remotely prior to the pandemic, and as of late 2021, 30 percent of respondents expected the workforce to be working remotely permanently. By 2022, 36 percent of respondents expected to be working in a hybrid model permanently.

Hybrid models of working are on the rise in the United States according to survey data covering worker habits between 2019 and 2024. In the second quarter of 2024, ** percent of U.S. workers reported working in a hybrid manner. The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic saw a record number of people working remotely to help curb the spread of the virus. Since then, many workers have found a new shape to their home and working lives, finding that a hybrid model of working is more flexible than always being required to work on-site.

Online searches regarding home office and remote working have surged worldwide since the global coronavirus outbreak. As companies worldwide have started moving workers to remote work setups, online interest in teleworking policies and setups has grown exponentially since February 2020, peaking in mid March. Search interest has gone down since then, but still remain at higher levels from pre-corona time. For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

In 2022, around 38 percent of employees working remotely worldwide reported that their work-life boundaries were somewhat healthy. In contrast, nine percent of employees reported having somewhat unhealthy work-life boundaries that year. Generally, the vast majority of remote workers globally stated that they had very or somewhat healthy work-life boundaries.

A 2022 survey found that individuals with advanced degree's were the most ****** to have access to full-time remote working opportunities. More broadly, and with the exception of those with less than a high school education, the availability of full-time remote work increases with level of education. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many workers across the U.S. began working remotely for the first time. The popularity of remote work has continued as pandemic restrictions have relaxed.

Office workers across all generations largely preferred a hybrid working model, according to the findings of a survey conducted across 28,000 full-time employees across 27 markets worldwide in 2022. Baby boomers were slightly more in favor of working from the office full time, but still, only about 11 percent of the respondents chose this option, compared to 68.3 that favored hybrid work and 20.5 that favored fully remote work. The youngest generation, Gen Z, was the least likely to prefer working from the office.

This statistic shows the frequency of working remotely in 2020. According to the survey, 35 percent of the respondents occasionally work remotely, while 16 percent of them are full-time remote workers.

A 2022 survey found that ** percent of employed Americans have been offered full-time remote work. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many workers across the U.S. began working remotely for the first time. The popularity of remote work has continued as pandemic restrictions have relaxed.

In a 2024 study, New Jersey was considered the best state for working from home in the United States with a total score of *****. This score is a weighted average across ** metrics which were divided into two major categories. Examples of metrics include cybersecurity, the percentage of workers working remotely, as well as the cost of internet in each state.

This statistic shows challenges of working remote in 2020. According to the survey, ** percent of respondents indicate managing at-home distractions as the biggest challenges of working remotely.

With 44 percent, most of respondents state that collaborating on new projects works better than pre-COVID-19. This indicates that maintaining a hybrid workplace post-COVID-19 is a possibility for both employers and employees. However, this does not mean that remote work is always an appropriate alternative to being in the office. Over 30 percent of employees state that coaching and onboarding new hires remotely is worse that pre-COVID.

In 2022, the main benefit to remote work worldwide was the ability to have a flexible schedule with 22 percent of respondents naming it as the biggest benefit to working remotely. The flexibility to choose where respondents live ranked second.

In 2021, ** percent of respondents from a global survey of employees working at least partially remotely would recommend the working arrangement to a friend. This is a decline of ** percent compared to the previous year. In general, employees consider remote work the future of work, as they can accomplish their tasks working remotely and keep productivity up. Further, just over ** percent of respondents stated that they would consider leaving their co-located company for a remote role. Importance of tools and technology for positive remote work attitude Half of employees worldwide indicated that they are thriving in a hybrid work environment. Notably, attitudes on telework are positive if employees are given the appropriate tools and technology to work remotely. These include digital collaboration and productivity management tools, as well as necessary hardware such as cameras and laptops. Organizations invest in digital transformation Organizations worldwide are taking note of the positive attitude towards hybrid work models and adjust their digital transformation efforts accordingly. This includes adopting more future of work (FoW) technologies that foster human-machine collaboration and support a digital workforce. These changes are needed to realize the potential for more remote work, which is highest in more advanced economies and for individuals working in occupations with digital output.

In June 2025, approximately 13 percent of workers in Great Britain worked from home exclusively, with a further 26 percent working from home and travelling to work, while 44 percent only travelled to work. During this time period, the share of people only travelling to work was highest in March 2022, at 60 percent of respondents, with the peak for only working from home occurring in June 2020. In general, hybrid working has become steadily more popular than fully remote working, with the highest share of people hybrid working in November 2023, when 31 percent of people advising they were hybrid working. What type of workers are most likely to work from home? In 2020, over half of people working in the agriculture sector mainly worked from home, which was the highest share among UK industry sectors at that time. While this industry was one of the most accessible for mainly working at home, just 6 percent of workers in the accommodation and food services sector mainly did this, the lowest of any sector. In the same year, men were slightly more likely to mainly work from home than women, while the most common age group for mainly working from home was those aged 75 and over, at 45.4 percent. Over a long-term period, the share of people primarily home working has grown from 11.1 percent in 1998, to approximately 17.4 percent in 2020. Growth of Flexible working in the UK According to a survey conducted in 2023, working from home either on a regular, or ad-hoc basis was the most common type of flexible working arrangement offered by organizations in the UK, at 62 percent of respondents. Other popular flexible working arrangements include the ability to work flexible hours, work part-time, or take career breaks. Since 2013, for example, the number of employees in the UK that can work flextime has increased from 3.2 million, to around 4.2 million by 2024. When asked why flexible work was important to them, most UK workers said that it supported a better work-life balance, with 41 percent expressing that it made their commute to work more manageable.