Remote Work Doesn't Seem to Be Going Anywhere

Research finds share of work done at home at 30%
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 20, 2023 4:19 PM CST
Working From Home Is a Lasting Change, Research Suggests
   (Getty/RossHelen)

More than three years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, the share of Americans who work at home has stabilized. Overall, 30% of all work took place at home in January, WFH Research found, six times the share in January 2019. The percentage is closer to 50 in large cities, the Hill reports. It might not always be employers' preference, but experts say the shift appears to be lasting. "There's sufficient and growing evidence that people do work well when they're working from home," said Barbara Larson, of Northeastern University's business school. "It's not like everybody was working hard when they were in the office."

The research shows that workers save an average of 70 minutes per day by not commuting and that they spend almost half of that doing work. The share of all work done at home increased from 4.7% in January 2019, before the pandemic began, to 61% in May 2020. About 13% of people do their work only at home, and 30% or so fall into the hybrid category. Just over half are back at their workplace, including retail and restaurant staffs, as well as factory and warehouse employees. "Fifty-five percent of Americans can't work from home," said Nicholas Bloom, a WFH researcher and Stanford University economist.

Some economists say it's the biggest change to the labor market since World War II, per the Hill. Office space sits empty in the biggest cities. Vacancy rates were over 50% last week in New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC, last week, per Kastle Systems, and the shift to remote work has hurt their governments financially. "It's not the end of cities," one economist said. But "if cities aren’t flexible and smart about how they change their fiscal policies and tax policies, you could end up in a bad situation," he said. (More remote working stories.)

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