36 Fascinating Work From Home Statistics for 2024

Working from home, telecommuting, or remote work, lets employees perform their professional activities from any location instead of commuting to a traditional office.

This arrangement became a pervasive phenomenon in the modern workforce, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Companies and employees around the world adopted remote it as a means to maintain business continuity. 

But what do the latest work-from-home statistics reveal about its prevalence, impact, and future? 

Let’s dive into some data and uncover the key insights.

Eye-opening work-from-home statistics

Remote work has become a widespread phenomenon in recent times, and the following statistics shed light on its growing significance:

• The global remote workforce has increased by 115% since 2005.
• 82% of CEOs believe telework is here to stay.
• In 2020, the number of online workers in the US increased from 5 million to 42 million.
• 56% of companies globally allow working from home.
• Employees who would like to telework at least part of the time are about 83%.
• 36.2 million Americans are estimated to have remote jobs by 2025.

General work-from-home statistics

Remote work is becoming a norm in our world today and many employees and employers are embracing it massively.

The data below proves its continuous growth and prevalence.

1. 35% of US employees worked from home most of the time in 2023.

(Source: Pew Research)

This is down from 43% in January 2022 and 55% in October 2020, but still a significant amount.

2. 16% of companies globally are fully remote.

(Source: Owl Labs)

Even though the figure is presently still low, the emergence of firms that function entirely remotely and have no physical office signifies the substantial development and advancement of this system.

3. Two-thirds (66%) of workers will opt for a hybrid schedule if being completely at home isn’t an option.

(Source: Owl Labs)

The interest in telework has increased. A 2022 stat shows that 66% of remote employees will only opt in for hybrid work if the ability to work from home is taken away. 

4. Home-based employees report better quality of work.

(Source: Cisco)

In a survey done on Cisco employees in 2022, 61% of telecommuters reported improved quality of work as opposed to on-site workers.

5. Remote job openings increased by 357% in 2021.

(Source: LinkedIn)

Virtual job openings skyrocketed on LinkedIn in 2021.

The analysis revealed that Media/Communications and Software/IT Services sectors experienced the most substantial growth in remote opportunities between May 2020 and May 2021.

6. 48% of hiring managers are working with independent talent today.

(Source: Upwork)

Due to the popularity and proven quality of WFH arrangements, many hiring managers in the United States collaborate with remote freelancers.

7. 62% of employees collaborate with colleagues across different time zones.

(Source: Buffer)

Because of virtual jobs, joining forces with individuals from all over the world is more frequent.

In a study done by Buffer in 2023, 74% of respondents said yes when asked if their business operated in different time zones.

Remote work statistics by major countries during and after the COVID era.

One of the most significant and lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world is that working from home as a practice increased.

Below you can find which countries have the most remote opportunities and the pandemic’s effect on them.

8. 29.4% of European countries’ remote jobs were from the UK.

(Source: Coresignal)

This made the United Kingdom the leader of home-based job posts in Europe in 2021, followed closely by Germany.

However, France had the least share of remote workers, with about 2 – 3% share. 

9. Due to the pandemic, 62% of employed Americans worked from home. 

(Source: Gallup)

In 2020, the proportion of employed adults who reported operating from home due to concerns about the coronavirus increased from 31% in mid-March to 49% a few days later and then to 59% the following week. 

10. In Canada, 30.7% of employees worked from home due to the pandemic. 

(Source: Statistics Canada)

Between April 2020 and June 2021, 42.3% of workers in Canada could work from home, but only 30.7% did so.

11. In 2022, the UK had the highest increase in remote job postings

(Source: LinkedIn)

The United Kingdom had about a 277% increase in remote job postings, the highest among the European countries.

12. Customer care representatives had the highest number of remote job applications in India during the pandemic.

(LinkedIn)

CSR had a 4.45x growth in the share of applications in India. This was followed closely by Internet analyst, key account manager, and freelance writer with 4.33x, 3.69x, and 2.80x growth, respectively.

Remote work statistics before and after COVID

Although remote work was not new before COVID-19, the pandemic has led to it skyrocketing and becoming mainstream.

Here are some remote work statistics before and after COVID.

13. Asia and South America had 9% more businesses that won’t allow people to work from home.

(OwlLabs)

In Asia and South America, there are more businesses that won’t accept remote work compared to the global average.

Meanwhile, Australia and Africa embrace it, much like the United States, giving 59% to 65% of employees access to remote or hybrid options.

14. Only 23% of US employees did some or all of their work from home before the pandemic.

(Source: Pew Research)

Before COVID, just a few people in the US were working from home.

That’s probably because they did not have the option to do it because about 83% of people who could work from home did, even before the omicron variant of Covid 19.

15. In 2020 the number of remote workers in the US increased by 44%.

(Source: Statista)

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the percentage of US employees working from home five days or more per week increased from 17% to 44% in 2020 compared to the pre-pandemic level.

16. 82% of managers give support for remote work after the pandemic.

(Source: Gartner, Microsoft)

After the COVID era, managers reported that they will have more flexible work-from-home policies even after the pandemic.

Moreover, for some organizations, flex time will be the new norm as 43% of company leaders reported they will grant employees flex days, while 42% will provide flex hours.

Work from home statistics by industries.

Working from home is not going anywhere. 

As companies adopt the model and people realize its benefits, the number of employees that ditch the standard office setup for more flexible arrangements is expected to grow.

Here’s how work-from-home statistics look in 2023 and recent years.

17. Information Technology had the highest share of remote jobs in 2021.

(Source: Coresignal)

After the covid era, IT and services offered about 22.1% of telework job opportunities, making it the industry’s largest share.

18. The information sector is the only sector where more than half of jobs involve full-time remote work.

(Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)

The stat shows that 68% of workers in the information sector telework at least sometimes.

Also second on the list is professional and business services, with 46% of its employees being out of the office some of the time.

In contrast, the accommodation and food service sector has the least involvement.

19. There has been a 75% growth in the number of freelance companies since 2014.

(Source: Exploding Topics)

There were around 190 freelancing platform businesses in 2014, with an estimated investment of $600 million.

That number rapidly increased to over 330 businesses. By now (2023), work-from-home finance statistics show that nearly $1.9 billion has been invested in this area.

Benefits of working from home

Working from home has dramatically affected people’s health, wellness, and finance.

Here’s what the numbers have to say about the perks of remote jobs.

20. The possibility of remote work is the second most significant benefit for many professionals.

(Source: FlexJobs)

Only an appealing income (83%), beats out remote work (77%), ranked second for over 1200 remote employees.

They’ll choose it over retirement plans and health insurance.

21. Businesses that enable their employees to work remotely experience a rise of $2,000 in profit per worker.

(Source: Stanford)

Remote work doesn’t just benefit employees financially, but it also offers them cost savings for employers.

This is because fewer employees in the office translate to reduced expenditures on rent, bills, supplies, travel reimbursements, maintenance costs, and other related expenses.

22. The average remote worker saves a maximum of $6000 per year.

(Source: Global Workplace Analytics)

Remote work can lead to cost savings for employees too.

Based on an estimate by Global Workplace Analytics, employees get to save between $600 and $6000 per year.

These savings come from less spending on commuting, meals, and other job expenses.

23. Globally, 75% of remote workers earn over $65,000/year.

(Source: Global Workplace Analytics)

Global Workplace Analytics’ statistics compendium on remote work reveals that, based on data available in 2021, teleworkers typically belong to a higher-income group.

Moreover, most of them possess a college education and are generally over 45 years old.

24. Only 70% of remote workers get regular training from their company.

(Source: TalentLMS)

In total, 87% of individuals working from home get frequent professional training. However, out of this number, only 70% get it from their employees.

Those who are interested in training also get it independently, generally through online courses.

25. Time efficiency is still the key advantage of working remotely. 

(Source: Buffer)

22% of employees claim freedom in how they spend their time is an excellent benefit of remote jobs.

However, flexibility in where one chooses to reside is also a top benefit.

Remote work productivity & satisfaction statistics:

Remote work has been a point of contention when it comes to productivity.

However, research has shown that it can actually improve efficiency. Here are some remote work productivity statistics that prove it:

26. Remote workers are more productive.

(Source: Cisco)

According to a study conducted by Cisco in 2022, 60% of people who work from home felt that they were more productive.

The study surveyed 12,000 professionals across 33 countries. It reveals that the remote and hybrid models are positive productivity factors and there’s a need for implementing them at a larger scale.

27. Many remote employees are satisfied with their job and would choose it over a pay rise.

(Source: Global Workplace Analytics)

Globally, based on a wide range of studies, about 36% of employees will choose to telecommute over a pay rise as they are sick of the rat race and ready to take control of their lives.

28. Almost half of those working from home prefer it over the office.

(Source: Chicago Booth Review)

According to a survey conducted in March 2021, 40% of prefer it and say are more efficient.

On the other hand, only 15% felt more productive in the office.

29. 75% of professionals work remotely because of fewer distractions.

(Source: Flexjobs) 

The most significant source of distraction in an office is noisy colleagues, but when you work remotely, this is no longer an issue.

Remote work statistics per industry and department

Different industries gave varying responses to the demand to work from home.
Here is the necessary information you need to know:

30. IT and insurance departments have the most significant representation of remote job workers.

(Source: WeForum)

The industries with an immense opportunity to work from home are information technology and insurance. 74% of workers in those fields reported having this possibility.

The healthcare, accounting and finance, and education sectors follow this.

31. Over 11.1% of private-sector businesses had their employees fully working from home in 2022.

(Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)

There wasn’t a huge increase in people who teleworked 100% of the time. In July-September 2021 the percentage was 10.3.

Problems associated with working from home

Although working remotely has been primarily beneficial for many people, there are still difficulties in implementing digital workspaces on a large scale.

Here are notable stats on the challenges of remote work:

32. 58% of remote teams feel stretched to their full capacity with limited resources.

(Source: Upwork)

In 2020 over half of the remote teams complain about having too much work and too few resources.

On top of it, 61% of remote teams also complained of a lack of the necessary talent to complete projects.

Consequently, this resulted in the cancellation or delay of several projects managed by remote teams.

33. Maintaining a company’s culture among remote workers is a top challenge for CEOs.

(Source: Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)

66.5% of CEOs stated that sustaining culture is one of the most prominent personnel management issues for dealing with remote staff.

The challenge of fostering cooperation and communication among a remote workforce came in second (62.4%)

34. Remote employees struggle with sitting at home too much and not having a good cause to go somewhere.

(Source: Buffer)

In 2023, one in three remote workers complained about staying home too often because they had no reason to leave. 

Also, 23% struggle with loneliness, and 22% find it difficult to unplug after regular working hours.

35. Remote workers have the worst work-life balance.

(Source: The Conference Board)

One would have thought working from home would allow people to give a balance to life since they’ll have more time to themselves.

However, this is not true, as 47% of remote professionals admitted they struggled with poor work-life balance in 2022 due to the expectation always to be available.

36. 23% of employees working from home are concerned about the deterioration of their mental health.

(Source: The Conference Board)

More remote workers are concerned about their overall health than just 14% of those in a physical workplace.

In addition, the survey reported a 41% reduction in mental health and a 41% increase in burnout.

Wrap up

At this point, remote work is becoming increasingly popular and is obviously here to stay.

The pandemic accelerated the trend, but home offices still persist even in 2023.

Workers are more productive and diverse and have higher job satisfaction than their office-based counterparts. 

Additionally, telework is good for the environment, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and saves energy. 

However, work poses higher cybersecurity risks. Companies with more than half remote workers take much longer to identify and fix data breaches.

To properly adapt to this risk remote workers opt for VPNs.

In the same vein, businesses with remote workers start to realize the necessity of offering professional solutions to fix work-from-home VPN issues that lead to potential data leaks and poor connections.

So, whether you’re a business owner or an employee, consider the benefits of remote work and see if it’s the right fit for you.

FAQ

Sources:

1. Upwork
2. Owl Labs
3. Owl Labs
4. Pew Research
5. Cisco
6. Buffer
7. LinkedIn
8. Coresignal
9. Gallup
10. Owl Labs
11. Pew Research
12. LinkedIn
13. Statista
14. Statistics Canada
15. Statistics Canada
16. LinkedIn
17. Gartner
18. Microsoft
19. Coresignal
20. Bureau for Labor Statistics
21. Exploding Topics
22. Flexjobs
23. Stanford University
24. Global Workplace Analytics
25. Weforum
26. Chicago Booth Review
27. Global Workplace Analytics
28. Bureau of Labor Statistics
29. TalentLMS
30. Buffer
31. Stanford University
32. Flexjobs
33. SHRM
34. The Conference Board