100 Remote Work Stats, Quotes, and Statistics
officearrow.com / By Brad Shaw
In the times of unexpected, when almost the entire economy was forced to shut down, what emerged as a true life (and economy) saver was the concept of Remote Work. Due to increasingly advanced tools and platforms, working remotely yet efficiently and in tandem with your teammates isn’t an impossible task anymore.
Though remote work has been an active topic of discussion for over a decade now, its importance and benefits have never been more clear before. So to help you keep up with the times, here are 100 remote work stats and quotes!
These statistics cover a wide range of information regarding the ins and outs of remote work while also shedding some light on its increasing prominence. They also provide insight into future trends and the changing patterns in the US workforce. Read on!
Employees and Remote Work
Numbers regarding how many employees in the US companies are actively working from remote locations, how many could, and how many want to:
“The estimated rise in the percentage of people opting for regular work-at-home is 173%. It’s not only around 47 times faster than the growth in self-employed workers but also 11% faster than the noted growth in the rest of the workforce, which is 4% and 15%, respectively.” (Global Workplace Analytics)
“Breaking up the previous data further, remote work grew by 7.9% in the span of one year alone during 2016-17.”
“This upward trend pertaining to remote working and the rise in its popularity has been observed for over a decade already, with a growth of 91% from the mid-2000s to 2010s.”
“In the past couple of years, over 3.6% of the US workforce, which is over 5 million workers, has turned to remote working for either full or part-time work.” (Global Workplace Analytics)
“The number of people who work from home at least once a week has grown by 400% in the past decade.”
“The number of people working remotely for at least half the time has been on the rise, and there are now over 60% of employees who spend more time working out of the office space.”
“At least 52% of the global workforce work from home once a week, at the minimum. This number is similar to that of the USA, where over half the total workers are already experiencing the perks of flexible workspace.”
“The concept of remote working is getting popular among the majority of the US workforce, with 80% of the employees agreeing that they would like to work remotely for at least a portion of the time.” (State of Remote Work 2019, Owl Labs)
“That said, this opinion is not at all unanimous. Though the number of employees with no special thoughts about remote working is still a lot less, up to 12% of people, say they wouldn’t want to work remotely.”
“As many as 35% of the employees had no scruples in changing jobs if they can get an opportunity to work full time remotely.”
“Among this number, the majority were Millennials (around 47%), while Boomers also made a considerable number of 31%.”
“Around 37% of workers would still be comfortable changing jobs if they could work remotely for just part of the time.”
“50% Millennials and 33% Boomers shared the same view as stated above.” (State of the American Workforce, Gallup, 2017)
“Already in 2016, 43% of the total workforce worked remotely for at least for some time. This number has now risen exponentially given the economic and social changes, with more and more employees are turning toward remote work and for a higher frequency.”
Companies and Remote Work
What do most companies feel about remote working and how encouraging they are:
“There are as many as 44% of companies around the world that don’t allow remote work at all, and this number is just an estimate.” (Owl Labs)
“At the same time, there are 16% of companies that exclusively select employees for remote work.”
“Larger companies are more likely to offer remote work options to their employees. They provide flexible work options over twice as much as smaller companies.” (Global Workplace Analytics Analysis of 2017 American Community Service Data)
“12% of the large companies offer flexible workspace benefits as opposed to just 5% small companies.”
“There is a 40% rise in the number of employers who are more open to remote working and flexible work options in the US.”
“But not many are ready to provide this option to all their workers. While 69% of employers offer flexible work options to at least some of their employees, 42% only offer it part-time, and 27% only give this option to full-time workers.” (SHRM 2019 Employee Benefits Survey)
“Also, full-time employees have more chances of getting the option to work remotely, which can be up to four times more than part-time workers.”
“Officially, there are 51% of companies that allow their staff to work remotely. But different surveys show that only around half of these employers actually follow through, and most of them still expect the workers to show up at the office.”
“It is estimated that by 2018, up to 73% of all departments/teams in a company will have employees working remotely.”
“But even companies, big or small, realize that providing flexible workplace options can be beneficial in more ways than one. Workers who work remotely are found to be more productive, and that in addition to saving on traveling reimbursement, companies have shown to collectively save up to $44 billion in just the year 2015.” (State of Telecommuting)
“This means that even if the employers offer only part-time remote working facilities, they can save up to $11,000 for each employee who works from home at least half time.”
“30% of the employers confessed that they save over $5000 per year on on-site expenses.”
“Continuing from the previous point, around two-thirds of managers report that employees who can work remotely from home have shown an increase in their productivity.”
“Even 86% of the workers agree that they are more productive when working alone or from home at flexible times.”
“Allowing employees to work from home may result in decreasing the overall operating cost, and as many as 77% of people agree with this.”
“Despite this, 80% of the people working remotely reveal that their companies (which means the majority of them) don’t reimburse the workers for monthly expenses incurred during remote working, like internet costs or the cost of coworking platforms.” (State of Remote Work, 2020)
“Any organization needs people to work. Offering flexible workplace and time options is helpful in attracting new talent while retaining the old ones. 80% of the employees would turn down a job that doesn’t offer flexible working options.”
“Employers that offered remote work options lost a lot fewer employees than others. There is an estimate that the employee turnover rates fall over by more than 50% just by providing more flexible working options.”
“80% of the employees agreed that they would be more loyal to a company that provides flexible workspace options.”
“On the other hand, around 30% of the workers actually left their jobs due to the unavailability of flexible work options.”
“And when it comes to recruiting fresh talent, around 68% of Millennials said that they would more likely go for a company that provides work from home options.”
“Even the possibility of getting to work from home just one day per week is a great incentive for 77% of fresh college graduates.”
“And finally, 72% of professionals agree that work flexibility, including remote work options, will be very important during the recruitment process in the near future.”
Remote Work Demographics
What demographic do the people actively working from remote locations belong to? Their age group, educational qualifications, and industry type:
“Studies show that people working from home on a regular basis are more likely to have at least a Bachelor’s degree, 53% of them as compared to the 37% of those who mostly work in an office. From this, we can infer that more college graduates are likely to go for remote working options than the ones who are not.”
“That doesn’t mean High School Diploma holders don’t go for work from home options. In fact, around 20% of all those who work remotely either only hold a high school diploma or even less.”
“The majority of the employees regularly working from remote locations were found to occupy higher posts in the company, mostly managerial positions, which was as high as 16% of the total.”
“14% of the regular work from employees was connected to administrative departments, and at least 9% handled business and financial operations.”
“According to Global Workplace Analytics Special Analysis of 2016 ACS Data, most remote workers belonged to professional, scientific, and technical services, amounting to up to 12% of the total employees working remotely.”
“This is followed by 10% of total employees working in the Information sector and around 9% of the finance and insurance industry.”
“Among workers in trading, retail, and wholesale both included, also have at least 10% working remotely.”
“Also, Work from Home positions tend to be more knowledge-based ones and thus pay higher. They almost always revolve around working with computers or numbers. For example, software developers, programmers, and digital marketers.”
“Over 7% of the disabled employees work from home.”
Remote Work and Benefits
Are there any personal, financial, or social benefits to remote work?
“Studies show that 82% of remote workers experience less work-related stress as compared to regular office workers.”
“They are also 57% more likely to be satisfied with their jobs than any other average office employee.”
“Almost 75% of the people who prefer to work from home do so because of fewer distractions. Similarly, 74% accepted that they like working remotely to avoid colleague interruptions or office noise during work hours, which annoys a lot of workers.”
“76% prefer to avoid their office completely when they need to concentrate on a project.”
“A steep decline is often seen in the number of sick days of an employee who works remotely. 50% of the work from home employees said that they took less sick days after starting working from home.”
“69% of work from home employees also reported less number of absences and tardies, while 80% reported higher morale or better motivation.”
“Another fact worthy of being noted is that the average annual income of employees working remotely was found to be $4,000 higher than the regular employees. Moreover, they save up money that would have otherwise gone to commuting to and from work.”
“To put it into perspective, an employee who works remotely on at least half the days can save an equivalent of 11 workdays worth of time. That’s how much not having to travel back and forth just half the time does, and as we all know, time is money!”
“79% of telecommuters (those who work from home using the internet and phone) earn $100,000 or less, as opposed to 67% of non-telecommuters or regular office workers.”
“Working from home also has good environmental benefits, given that it reduces the number of people and vehicles on the road. The traffic isn’t as bad, the emission of greenhouse gases is relatively less and of course, less noise to deal with.”
“To put it in numbers, at present, the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that telecommuters is equal to 600,000 cars.”
“32% of people said that the biggest benefit of working remotely is the ability to have a flexible schedule. Things can be done in your own way without undue pressure, and more things can be done in a short time.”
“11% of the telecommuting employees stated that being able to spend more time with the family is what they feel most happy about.”
Regular vs. Remote Work
Productivity, stability, personal preference… The scale tips in favor of:
“Remote working gives an equal opportunity to working mothers and housewives. 52% of the total employees working from home are females. This number, when compared to their participation in the overall US workforce, is higher by 4%. Though the disparity in itself isn’t too large, the greater participation of women is still a good thing.”
“Remote workers have shown increased longevity, and around 42% of the employees who work full time remotely have been doing so for over five years. 28% of remote workers have been active for 3 to 5 years and 19% for 1 to 2 years.”
“Though work from home employees generally earn more than regular office ones, they are willing to accept a lower salary in exchange for flexible work conditions.”
“34% of the total workers are alright with a pay cut of up to 5% if that means they will be able to work remotely.”
“28% are even willing to accept a pay cut of up to 10% or even 20% in order to have a flexible workspace option.” (State of Remote Work, 2019, Owl Labs)
“There is a minimum of 21% of people who would give up their annual vacation time if they could get an option to work remotely. Most remote workers take only 2 to 3 weeks of vacation annually, despite having an option for more.”
“One of the biggest benefits of remote work is flexibility, which is also one of the most-sought after work benefits for Millennials, even more than tuition reimbursement. 69% of the Millennials would give up on other work benefits in the face of a flexible workspace.”
“Though 20% of the work from home employees also said that it is hard to communicate with coworkers while working remotely.”
“Another 20% pointed out that the lack of face to face interaction with colleagues can be a problem.” (State of Remote Work, 2020)
“To balance things out, most of the companies have come up with a system that allows a part of the workers to work from home while others work from the office, and then the employees in each are switched. 43% of the workers said that in their office, part of the team is full-time remote while part works regularly at the office.”
“15% of the companies have also permitted the workers to work remotely as and when needed.”
“But the problems don’t end with communication. For 22% of remote workers, a major problem is unplugging after work. The flexibility can sometimes overlap office and personal time, making it hard for them to strive for balance, which comes naturally when working in a regular office.”
“Up to 23% of remote workers confess to working longer hours than they would on-site.” (CoSo Cloud)
“Moreover, despite receiving confidential company data on their devices regularly while working from home, less than half of the remote workers receive proper training pertaining to internet security.”
“Interestingly, the level of engagement in the work of both regular and remote workers is the same, that is, 30%. The highest work engagement ever seen is 41%, from people who work remotely up to 80% of the time.”
Satisfaction Index
How many would recommend it and how many want to switch:
“98% of the current workforce working remotely said they want to continue to do so for the rest of their careers, showing a high degree of satisfaction from the present arrangement.” (State of Remote Work, 2020)
“Only 2% wouldn’t want to continue remote working due to a number of reasons like being unable to adapt and lacking collaboration.”
“Also, staying motivated outside office settings was a problem for 7% of the remote workers who wouldn’t like to continue work from home.”
“But around 76% agreed that there are fewer distractions outside the office space.”
“66% of remote workers also say that their productivity improved when not in the office.”
“97% of the people would also like to recommend remote work to others.”
Remote Work Quotes
Quotes on Remote work that sum up almost everything that can’t be told through stats:
“With an enthusiastic team, you can achieve almost anything.” (Tahir Shah)
“People today really value workplace flexibility and remote work because it allows them to focus their energies on work and life as opposed to commuting or other complications due to geography.” (Ken Matos)
“Working from home is great for a lot of people because they get to spend more time with their family, their kids, and their pets.” (Brain Peters)
“Technology now allows people to connect anytime, anywhere, to anyone in the world, from almost any device. This is dramatically changing the way people work, facilitating 24/7 collaboration with colleagues who are dispersed across time zones, countries, and continents.” (Michael Dell)
“Remote work is the future of work.” (Alexis Ohanian)
“Even when I worked in an office, I would often bring work home with me. When I started working remotely, it was just a recipe for disaster. Over time, I’ve found two things to be very important. This is a bit cliche, and everybody says this, but it’s really true: Rest is very important. And time off is very important.” (Goncalo Silva)
“One of the secret benefits of using remote workers is that the work itself becomes the yardstick to judge someone’s performance.” (Jason Fried)
“Do you want to access talent everywhere, or just in specific markets? If the answer is everywhere, you need to be at least open to the possibility of remote work — it opens doors to attracting and retaining talent around the world, literally and figuratively.” (Katie Burke)
“Trust in your employees is essential for remote work success. It also forms the underlying foundation of a great virtual culture.” (Larry English)
“Part of the beauty of remote work is being able to work on a schedule that works best for you, but if you’re online and working at all hours, you’ll start burning out quickly. We’ll need to build clear rules around how technology can be used to help us maintain those boundaries for work-life balance.” (Ryan Bonnici)
“Remote work isn’t a privilege or special accommodation. It’s a way of working, and that’s a strong statement for some people. It shouldn’t be a question of rewarding top performers with the ability to work remotely.” (Nickie Bellington)
“If you are working on something exciting that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you.” (Steve Jobs)
“Don’t work from bed. You want your bed to be a place of peace and calm, not work stress.” (Liz Grossman Kitoyi)
“The option to work from home when needed, or to try a different lifestyle without having to change jobs, is a win for everyone.” (Scott Berkun)
“Personal accountability requires mindfulness, acceptance, honesty, and courage.” (Shelby Martin)
“When I first started telecommuting, I found myself finishing my tasks much earlier than I had previously, and ended up taking on more responsibilities… from home, because I just worked better in this environment.” (Melanie Pinola)
“Some of the greatest minds in human history produced monumental breakthroughs while working at home – in some cases, voluntarily, and in others, being forced to work from home during times of widespread, communicable diseases.” (Robert Webber)
“Colonel Sanders was 40 before he started cooking his famous chicken – out of his dining room!” (Shaa Wasmund)
“So many people think the remote work community is made up of only spoiled, privileged millennials and Instagram influencers, and that’s not who we are. We’re people of all ages, from all countries and all socioeconomic classes, and what brings us together is the shared mindset that we want to do something different and have adventures sooner, rather than later in life.” (Spencer Jentzsch)
“If you are not willing to risk the usual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.” (Jim Rohn)
Bottom Line
Remote working is flexible, and you can set your own pace most of the time. It is the way of working that focuses on accountability and conviction, and in a fast-paced life where it’s easy to lose focus of what’s important, remote working might just be the way to discover your passion.
Well, if we talk about professional matters too, remote working is definitely something that is here for a long time. The overall stats present a positive picture, and the many advantages of working from home are worth looking into.
There is nothing wrong with sticking to standard procedures, but then again, new experiences are an indispensable part of our life, of our growth as a social being. And I hope all these facts helped you a little in deciding where you stand.
