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.

According to a study conducted among Canadian employees in 2021, very few employees reported to be less productive at home than outside, e.g. in the office. Overall, only *** percent of new remote workers accomplished less work per hour. Productivity increased the most among employees aged 51 to 64 years. In this age group, **** percent of new remote workers accomplished more work per hour at home than in the office.

According to a study conducted among Canadian employees in 2021, very few employees reported to be less productive at home than outside, e.g. in the office. Overall, only *** percent of new remote workers accomplished less work per hour. The majority of employees working from home managed to work either the same amount of work per hour or more. Some **** percent of males and **** percent of females were more productive at home than outside.

Experimental estimates from the Annual Population Survey for homeworking in the UK, including breakdowns by sex, full-time or part-time, ethnicity, occupation, industry, qualifications, hours worked, pay and sickness absence among others. Includes regression outputs on the different outcomes for homeworkers.

A survey of 1,500 NSW workers during August and September 2020 (2020 Remote Working Survey) and March and April 2021 (2021 Remote Working Survey), commissioned to understand workers' experiences of and attitudes to remote and hybrid working. To be eligible, respondents had to be employed NSW residents with experience of remote working in their current job. After accounting for unemployed people and those whose jobs cannot be done remotely—for example, dentists, cashiers and cleaners—the sample represents around 59 per cent of NSW workers. Workers answered questions on: • their attitudes to remote working • the amount of time they spent working remotely • their employers’ policies, practices, and attitudes • how they spent their time when working remotely • how barriers to remote working have changed • the barriers they faced to hybrid working • their expectations for future remote working

During an early 2021 survey, 32 percent of responding game developers reported that while working from home as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, their productivity and/or creativity levels had stayed about the same. Additionally, 24 percent reported that their productivity and creativity levels had somewhat decreased.

According to a study conducted among Canadian employees in 2021, there were several reasons why some employees became less productive while working from home. The most common reason was the lack of interactions with colleagues, which was pointed out by **** percent of the employees in Canada. Another important reason among remote workers who accomplished less work per hour at home than in the office was the need to take care of children or other family members, indicated by ** percent of workers.

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.

Following a hybrid work model was most effective in Australia, according to a survey among full-time flex work office employees in eight different countries worldwide in 2021. Under a hybrid work model, employees are allowed flexibility when choosing from where to work - the office, from home or from a different location. According to ** percent of Australian respondents, their team was working effectively in the current set-up. Meanwhile, in Japan, those figures were the lowest at ** percent.

Employers perceived remote work to be less effective than employees. One in two employers and employees considered doing other non-work activities while working to be the most significant risk associated with remote work. However, nearly 45 percent of employers felt that home office reduces productivity. Meanwhile, this opinion was shared by almost 40 percent of employees.

After several months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland, entrepreneurs rated the quality of remote work much lower than employees in 2021. One in three employers said that work efficiency declined during the home office. In contrast, less than one in four employees had the same opinion. Thirteen percent of employees and only seven percent of employers favored increased efficiency when working remotely.

In a survey conducted in the Asia-Pacific region in October 2021 about the provision of tech resources for working from home, 39 percent of respondents stated that they wished for their employer to provide productivity equipment and tools for long-term work from home (WFH).

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 a June 2020 survey, participants that worked from home during the coronavirus pandemic were asked what they thought were the greatest sources of distraction. Among the respondents, 53.7 percent said that their smartphones were affecting their productivity during the lockdown. Additionally, 30.4 percent admitted that gaming was keeping them from their daily work responsibilities.

In Sweden, more than half of the respondents reported that they became more efficient after the outbreak of COVID-19 and the widespread use of home office. Over 20 percent answered that they became significantly more efficient at work, whereas 30 percent became somewhat more efficient.