130+ Remote Work Statistics: The Landscape of WFH

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The global pandemic shed light on remote work and made it clear that companies need to invest in technologies that make working remotely possible and manageable. These remote work statistics tell us that this new way of working is one-way people will move forward in the workplace.

General Remote Work Statistics

Five million employees (3.6% of the U.S. employee workforce) work at home for at least half a week. (Global Workplace Analytics, 2018)
44% of workers say that part of their team is full-time remote. (Buffer, 2019)
30% of people report working for a fully remote company. (Buffer, 2019)
55% of VPs work remotely, at least part-time. (Owl Labs, 2019)
Email is the primary communication method for remote workers, followed by instant messaging and video chat. (CoSo Cloud, 2015)
One in every two people will not return to a job that does not allow them to work from home. (Owl Labs, 2020)

There should be one day a week with no meetings at all, says 80% of people. (Owl Labs, 2020)
74% agree or strongly agree that they should have core hours, for example, four hours a day, where they are available to colleagues and work on their own schedule. (Owl Labs, 2020)
Workers in a home office report being less distracted by coworkers, conversing about non-work issues for 30 minutes less, and spending 7% less time talking to management. (Airtasker, 2020)
According to a poll conducted by Blind, over 3,000 employees from corporations like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, 64% would prefer a permanent work-from-home option over a $30,000 wage boost. (TeamBlind, 2021)
For some organizations, the percentage is considerably higher: 71% of Airbnb employees, 81% of Lyft employees, and 89% of Twitter employees, for example, chose permanent work from home over a pay raise. A staggering 100% of Zillow Group professionals said they would choose permanent work from home over a temporary position. (TeamBlind, 2021)

Even though remote work enables employees to work anywhere, 84% of remote employees prefer to work from home. (Buffer, 2019)
40% of people say that a flexible schedule would be the best perk of working remotely. (Buffer, 2019)
72% of talent professionals agree that work flexibility (which includes remote work options) will be essential for the future of HR and recruiting. (LinkedIn, 2019)
95% of people would encourage their friends or family to work remotely. (Buffer, 2019)
99% of people would work remotely if given the option. (Buffer, 2019)
71% of Spanish employees sometimes use their smartphones for remote working, compared to 38% in the U.K. and 27% in Germany. (Vodafone Global Survey*, 2016)
Only 8% of U.K. companies surveyed would be concerned about employees not working as hard due to flexible working arrangements, compared to 33% in Hong Kong. (Vodafone Global Survey, 2016)

Between 2017 and 2018, telecommuting increased by 22%. (FlexJobs, 2018)
42% of people with a remote work option want to work remotely more often in the next five years. (Owl Labs, 2019)
75% of new employees might work remotely less often at their company. (Owl Labs, 2019)
Working remotely does not prevent 57% of survey respondents from progressing in their careers. (Owl Labs, 2020)
According to an Airtasker report from March 2020, work-from-home employees spent 15% less time avoiding work, worked 1.4 more days per month, and took more breaks. (Airtasker, 2020)

Only two businesses saw more employees choose the $30,000 over working from home: JPMorgan Chase employees chose the money 53% of the time, against 47% who chose the work-from-home option and Qualcomm employees chose the money 58% of the time, versus the 42% who said they would choose the remote work option. (TeamBlind, 2021)
If they weren’t allowed to continue working remotely in their current position, 58% of workers said they would “definitely” hunt for a new job. (FlexJobs, 2021)

58% of Americans say they have the possibility to WFH at least once a week. (McKinsey, 2022)
Almost all workers (98%) want to work remotely at least some of the time. (Buffer, 2023)
98% would recommend remote work to others. (Buffer, 2023)
91% have had a positive experience with WFH. Only 1% say their experience was negative, whereas 8% remain neutral. (Buffer, 2023)
64% of remote workers are fully remote, whereas the rest work in a hybrid set-up. (Buffer, 2023)
71% of companies permanently allow some amount of remote work. 64% of employees are fully remote, whereas the rest work in a hybrid set-up. (Buffer, 2023)
Almost all remote workers (93%) consider work-life boundaries as very important. (Buffer, 2023)
78% say that their work-life balance is very or somewhat healthy. 11% report they have an unhealthy balance. (Buffer, 2023)
58% of those working remotely are engaged in their job. (Buffer, 2023)
28% of new job postings in January 2023 were remote opportunities. (Robert Half, 2023)

The COVID-19 Pandemic & Remote Working

After the pandemic, 82% of CEOs plan to enable staff to work at least part of the time remotely, and 47% expect to allow the workforce to work from home full-time. (Gartner, 2020)
After the pandemic, 65% of respondents want to be full-time remote employees. In comparison, 31% want a hybrid work environment, for a total of 96% who want to work remotely. (FlexJobs, 2020)
Working parents report higher productivity despite pandemic challenges. 49% of working mothers and 50% of working fathers say they are more productive working from home. (FlexJobs, 2020)
41.8% of the American workforce is still working from home. Although 26.7% of Americans will continue to work from home through 2021, by 2025, 36.2 million Americans (22% of the workforce) will be working remotely. This is an astonishing 87% rise over the number of remote employees before the pandemic! (Upwork, 2021)

If respondents were no longer able to work remotely after COVID-19, 66% would stay but be less satisfied. 54% would stay but be less inclined to go the additional mile, and 44% would anticipate a wage raise. (Owl Labs, 2020)
While working from home during COVID-19, 75% of people are as productive as they were before. (Owl Labs, 2020)
During COVID-19, about 70% of full-time workers in the United States are working from home. (Owl Labs, 2020)
During COVID-19, 94% of respondents said they utilized video conferencing the same way or more than before, and 60% said they used it considerably more. (Owl Labs, 2020)
Out of concern of contracting COVID-19, 79% of people preferred to work remotely in 2020. (Owl Labs, 2020)
77% of respondents think that being allowed to work from home following COVID-19 would make them happier. (Owl Labs, 2020)
During COVID-19, one out of every five remote workers said they worked more. (Owl Labs, 2020)

During COVID-19, remote employees worked an extra 26 hours per month on average (nearly an extra day every week). (Owl Labs, 2020)
Interruptions/being discussed were cited as the most significant problem from WFH during COVID-19 by 62% of respondents. (Owl Labs, 2020)
According to 26% of respondents, having children at home was the most difficult challenge they faced during COVID-19, followed by more meetings than usual and not working from home before. (Owl Labs, 2020)
During COVID-19, 67% of respondents worked most of the time from their home office, while 49% worked from their dining room or couch. (Owl Labs, 2020)
92% of people expect to work from home at least once a week after COVID-19. (Owl Labs, 2020)
80% of people intend to work from home at least three times per week after COVID-19. (Owl Labs, 2020)
When asked, “How do you think your company will feel about allowing you to work from home, at least some of the time, post-COVID-19, compared to how they felt before COVID-19?” 81% believe their boss will back them up. (Owl Labs, 2020)
People are saving an average of $479.20 each month during COVID-19. This equates to over $6,000 each year! (Owl Labs, 2020)
More than three-quarters of respondents stated they felt more trustworthy at work when working remotely during COVID-19. (Owl Labs, 2020)

Technology & WFH

According to 79% of respondents, video conferencing is on par with or even more productive than in-person meetings.(Owl Labs, 2020)
Video conferencing calls, according to 34% of people, are more enjoyable than teleconferencing calls. (Owl Labs, 2020)
According to a Stanford survey, only 65% of Americans have internet speeds fast enough to support video chats. With 42% of Americans working from home and 26% working at their employer’s physical site, the future seems bright. (Stanford, 2020)
For a video one-on-one meeting, 44% of poll respondents did not believe it was essential to dress up (think: clothing, hair, and makeup). (Owl Labs, 2020)
Eight out of ten full-time employees desire one day per week free of meetings, and 70% think that a day free of video meetings should be included in the weekly schedule. (Owl Labs, 2020)
While WFH, 57% of respondents stated video conferencing voice quality is a challenge, and 56% said video quality is a challenge. (Owl Labs, 2020)
People use video meetings 50% more in 2020 than they did before COVID-19. (Owl Labs, 2020)
According to one of the most extensive global surveys of its kind, conducted with 8,000 employers and employees across three continents, 75% of companies have now implemented flexible working policies allowing employees to vary their working hours and use the latest technologies to work from home or on the move. (Vodafone Global Survey, 2016)
Currently, 61% of respondents use their home broadband subscription to access business apps, while 24% utilize a mobile data connection through their smartphone, tablet, or laptop with a broadband adapter. (Vodafone Global Survey, 2016)
Employees would not work as hard if they were permitted to use flexible working patterns and technology, according to 22% of respondents. (Vodafone Global Survey, 2016)
62% of employees prefer to have their cameras on during a video call because they find it easier to communicate when they can see others’ expressions. (Buffer, 2023)
Half the workers use messaging apps to collaborate with their clients and teams, 22% use email, 19% hold meetings, and 7% share documents. (Buffer, 2023)

Benefits of Remote Work

Companies will save an average of $11,000 if the worker is a half-time telecommuter. (Global Workplace Analytics, 2019)
71% of companies also do not compensate for the coworking spaces of remote employees. (Buffer, 2019)
74% of employees say that getting a remote work option would make them less likely to leave the company. (Owl Labs, 2019)
81% of employees say that working remotely would make them more likely to recommend the company to job candidates and prospects. (Owl Labs, 2019)
More than half of in-office employees want to work remotely. (Owl Labs, 2019)
If allowed, 99% of people would choose to work remotely, at least part-time, for the rest of their careers. (Buffer, 2019)
Businesses would save an average of $11,000 annually per half-time telecommuter (Global Workplace Analytics, 2020)
61% of respondents stated their company’s earnings grew, 83% said productivity increased, and 58% said flexible working practices improved their organization’s reputation. (Vodafone Global Survey, 2016)

According to 22% of employees, the most significant benefit of remote work is the flexibility in how to spend their time. For 19%, it’s the flexibility in where to live, and for 13%, it’s the flexibility of the work location. (Buffer, 2023)
36% say that remote working makes it easier to grow in their career. (Buffer, 2023)
62% of workers say they are more productive when working remotely, and only 11% feel less productive. (Owl Labs, 2022)
Employees say that WFH has enabled them to think creatively (58%), work independently (68%), focus (54%), and meet deadlines (49%). (Owl Labs, 2022)
The majority of employees say that WFH would make them happier (86%), reduce their stress (81%), improve their mental health (79%), and make them feel more trusted (75%). (Owl Labs, 2022)
46% of remote workers report higher job satisfaction. (Robert Half, 2023)

Remote Work & Environment

75% of remote employees say they can maintain or improve productivity on solo activities, and 51% think they can do the same with collaborative projects. (Boston Consulting Group, 2020)
When 3.9 million employees work at least half of the time from home, they reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of taking 600,000 automobiles off the road for a year. (FlexJobs, 2020)
Remote employees may have the same influence on air quality as planting an entire forest of 91 million trees by making environmentally sound decisions like using less paper and monitoring their air conditioning, heating, and lighting. (FlexJobs, 2019)
According to 55% of firms that do not have remote work in place, employee morale would increase if flexible working rules were implemented. (Vodafone Global Survey, 2016)
According to 20% of respondents, their organization has not yet established a flexible working policy. 33% felt it would be inappropriate for their organization’s culture. 30% were concerned about tension between employees who worked flexibly and those who did not. 25% thought that work would be unevenly allocated across flexible and non-flexible employee groups. (Vodafone Global Survey, 2016)

Employees in 74% of companies work in different time zones. (Buffer, 2023)
Even though they work across different time zones, 75% of remote employees feel connected to their co-workers. (Buffer, 2023)
82% of remote employees work from home, 9% work from an office, and 5% go to a coworking space. (Buffer, 2023)
37% have a dedicated office space, 21% work from their bedroom, 20% use their living room, and 14% move from room to room. (Buffer, 2023)
78% of companies have established technology and systems for collaboration and communication between remote teams. (Buffer, 2023)
If employees could no longer work remotely, 67% would expect a pay increase to make up additional costs, whereas 46% would quit. (Owl Labs, 2022)

Remote Working & Health Insurance

In many cases, health insurance is a deciding factor in job selection. When asked to rank benefits and bonuses in the order of personal relevance when looking for a new job, 88% said health insurance is crucial. (Owl Labs, 2020)
Getting sick was the primary concern for 71% of workers when it came to returning to work. (Owl Labs, 2020)

Challenges of Remote Work for Employees

More than half of remote employees feel disconnected from in-office colleagues. (CoSo Cloud, 2015)
22% of remote employees report that shutting down after work is their biggest challenge. (Buffer, 2019)
19% of remote employees report social isolation and loneliness as their biggest challenge. (Buffer, 2019)
Less than half of remote workers say that they don’t receive proper internet security training even though companies send confidential data to their remote location. (GetApp, 2020)
23% of remote workers say that they work longer hours than they would onsite. (CoSo Cloud, 2015)
75% of the companies will not compensate for the internet if their employees work remotely. (Buffer, 2019)
43% of remote employees take three weeks or less for paid vacation per year. (Buffer, 2019)

70% of global professionals ranked fitness benefits as the most valuable benefit outside of healthcare that employers can provide (ClassPass, 2020).
Working remotely was feared by 43% of respondents as having a negative influence on their job advancement. (Owl Labs, 2020)
One in three employees would be unhappy but stay if their employer started monitoring their activity to track productivity when working from home. 43% would be dissatisfied or quit if their employer started monitoring their behavior to measure productivity when working from home. (Owl Labs, 2020)
People with flexible work say their work-life balance is excellent or very good, and 54% say they have the emotional support they need at work. (FlexJobs, 2020)
55% of remote and 44% of office employees were caught by their employer when they tried to find a way to avoid work when screen time or mouse movement were tracked. (Airtasker, 2020)

53% of remote employees say they’re less likely to take time off if they worked at their business’s location. (CoSo Cloud, 2015)
90% of IT professionals believe remote workers pose a security risk in general, and 54 % think that remote workers are a bigger security risk than onsite employees. (OpenVNP, 2021)
25% of employees use the same password for everything. (OpenVNP, 2021)
90% say their company requires remote workers to take part in cybersecurity training. However, for many, the level of frequency or effectiveness isn’t ideal. (OpenVNP, 2021)
36% of organizations have experienced a security incident because of a remote worker’s actions. (OpenVNP, 2021)

One in three remote workers says their biggest challenge is staying home too much because they have no reason to leave. (Buffer, 2023)
For 15%, the biggest struggle is loneliness, and 11% say they have difficulty unplugging and staying motivated. (Buffer, 2023)
Regarding career growth, those working remotely say it is difficult to get recognized by leadership (37%) and get promoted (28%). (Buffer, 2023)
44% of remote workers work more compared to the year before, and as a result one in five feels burntout. (Buffer, 2023)
40% of men and 28% of women are stressed because they feel they aren’t seen or heard during remote meetings. (Owl Labs, 2022)
48% of workers are worried that due to remote work they lose their say at work and miss out on opportunities. (Owl Labs, 2022)
42% are concerned that working remotely impacts their career growth. (Owl Labs, 2022)
41% of remote workers find it hard to fit in the company’s culture. (Owl Labs, 2022)

Advantages of Remote Work for Employees

The workers with highly complex jobs that require little interaction with stakeholders are more productive when remote than in an office. (Springer, 2018)
77% of remote employees say that they’re more productive when working from home. (CoSo Cloud, 2015)
Working from home is crucial to 27% of workers willing to accept a pay drop of 10% to 20%. Moreover, 81% feel that having more flexible work options would make them more loyal to their job. (FlexJobs, 2020)
Workplace distractions cost firms $600 billion each year, and remote workers are 35% to 40% more productive than their in-office colleagues. (GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics)
Despite a turbulent year in 2020, remote workers score 75 out of 100 on the Workforce Happiness Index, compared to 71 for in-office workers. Furthermore, remote workers are more likely than office workers to be satisfied with their jobs (57% vs. 50%). (CNBC, 2020)

95% of people say that working from home has increased or maintained their productivity. The following are some of the most critical factors that contribute to higher productivity. (FlexJobs, 2020)
Flexible employment alternatives (including remote employment) are associated with better mental health among respondents. Employees who do not have access to flexible work are approximately twice as likely to suffer from poor or extremely poor mental health. (FlexJobs, 2020)
Remote workers earn twice as much as on-site workers, with an average annual salary of $100,000. (State of Remote Work, 2019)
PayScale evaluated tens of thousands of salaries and found that remote workers earn 8.3% more than non-remote workers with the same job and qualifications and 7.5% more generally—without considering years of experience, job title, or location. (PayScale ,2020)

FlexJobs estimated that people could save up to $4,000 a year —and remote workers come out on top. (FlexJobs, 2020)
The ability to work remotely would make 72% of all survey respondents feel less anxious. (Owl Labs, 2020)
Working remotely, according to 77% of respondents, would help them better manage their work-life balance. (Owl Labs, 2020)
When asked what would help them be more productive as a remote worker, 32% said remote training, and 26% said virtual meeting tools. (Owl Labs, 2020)
Only 20-25% of businesses cover the costs of home office equipment, furnishings, cable, and chairs. (Owl Labs, 2020)
When asked, “What influence being able to work remotely have?” respondents said that they would feel like their company cares about them. They would be less likely to leave. (Owl Labs, 2020)
83% of workers say that a remote work opportunity would make them feel happier at their job. (Owl Labs, 2019)
30% of remote employees save upwards of $5,000 annually without onsite work expenses and work travel. (CoSo Cloud, 2015)
Despite the perk of remote work, less than 34% would take a pay cut of 5% to work remotely full-time, while just 24% would take a pay cut of 10% for the same option. (Owl Labs, 2019)
44% of managers expected productivity to improve as a result, while 30% of employees expected earnings to increase. (Vodafone Global Survey, 2016)
Because they work remotely, 63% of workers say they have more time because they don’t commute, and 56% say remote work is better for them financially. (Buffer, 2023)
According to remote employees, WFH enables them to focus better on work (70%), manage their stress (65%), and avoid distractions (50%). (Owl Labs, 2022)

Remote Working & Relocating

If employees could work from home all or most of the time, one in two would relocate. (Owl Labs, 2020)
Working from home saves you 40 minutes a day on your commute. (Owl Labs, 2020)
When asked, “Where would you move if you lived in an urban area and could WFH all or most of the time?” 50% indicated they would not relocate. (Owl Labs, 2020)
Even if employees had to take a cost-of-living wage adjustment or reduction, 44% of people would still move or consider it. (Owl Labs, 2020)

Remote work is a popular advantage for prospective employees. As we can see from the remote work statistics, the company becomes a desirable place for future candidates when remote work is an option.

* We’re using an archived version of the page as the source.

Written by shortlister editorial team

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130+ Remote Work Statistics: The Landscape of WFH

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