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10 Remote Work Statistics That You Should Know About

12. Nov. 2021

Remote work

With the upcoming Remote Future Summit 2019 we thought about sharing with you this most important statistics about remote work. With continuously improving technology and ever-changing working culture, remote work is becoming increasingly common in companies around the globe. More people are realizing and experiencing the benefits that flexible working arrangements have to offer. We’ve gathered together some of the most interesting facts and statistics, helping you to see what the current remote work landscape is like and some of its key traits.

Remote workers are more productive

One of the biggest benefits for employers when allowing their employees to work remotely is the increase in productivity shown by workers. Global Workplace Analytics Costs & Benefits survey shows that teleworkers in a number of large companies are actually between 35-40% more productive than their office counterparts*. They also found that “two-thirds of [all surveyed] employers report increased productivity among their telecommuters”.

Not having to commute can improve your health

Not needing to commute and significantly reducing your travel costs can lead to an increase in real income. You also save precious time spent commuting, and the stress associated with traveling to work. 55% of people reported increases levels of stress due to their daily commute, according to a report by the UK Royal Society for Public Health as cited in Forbes. Saving both time and money will, of course, lead to an improvement in your overall work-life balance.

Your work life balance can be greatly improved

Flexible working arrangements also help employees better manage their work-life balance. It’s been shown to be conducive to a better standard of mental and physical health, reducing stress and burnout. FlexJobs reports that 97% of over 3000 respondents in their 2018 annual survey said that a flexible job would have a “huge improvement or positive impact on their overall quality of life”*.

Your stress can be greatly reduced

A lot of the time during our working life we will have to deal with a certain amount of stress. This can actually help improve our performance if we have a certain upcoming deadline, but too much of it is detrimental to both your physical and mental health. A 2014 survey from PGI looking at remote workers reported that 82% of telecommuters had lower stress levels when working outside the office*.

More and more people are working remotely

It’s predicted that by 2027, the majority of the US workforce will be working remotely*. The number of those with flexible working arrangements is also growing faster than the overall US workforce, at roughly 3 times the rate. More companies are hiring and realising the benefits and potential that remote work can offer.

Remote work is here to stay

According to LinkedIn’s Global Talent Trends Report for 2019, 72% of talent professionals agree that work flexibility will be very important for the future of HR and recruiting. In the past two years alone, there’s also been a 78% increase in LinkedIn job posts advertising flexible work arrangements. It seems than that remote work is here to stay, and won’t just be a temporary trend in the job market.

Companies that allow for remote work can save significant costs

Remote hiring companies see a tangible reduction in costs associated with running a fully equipped and staffed office for all workers. IBM for example managed to save $50 million in real estate costs. 60% of employers questioned in the costs and benefits survey reported cost savings overall as a significant benefit of allowing people to work from home*.

Not everyone who works remotely travels

Even though flexible work arrangements offer the possibility to travel, many remote workers prefer to stay at home because it’s more convenient. According to the 2019 State of Remote Work study from Buffer, 84% of respondents said that they’re mostly working from home. This figure is actually up from the 2018 report, where 79% of remoters were primarily working from home.

Remote work hasn’t always been called remote work!

While remote work is one of the most popular term for flexible working arrangements, telecommuting was once the preferred one. Coming from Jack Nilles’ book The Telecommunications-Transportation Tradeoff in 1976, he proposed a system whereby work was brought closer to the workers. While technology couldn’t possibly allow for computers to be installed in every person's home, they could at least build satellite offices close to their employees’ homes. After testing the idea with an insurance company in LA, Nilles reported that “[the] productivity of those employees went up 18%, the turnover rate went to zero and facilities costs were much lower.''

Remote work is environmentally friendly

By getting rid of the commute, working from home drastically cuts down on the carbon emissions created from using a vehicle. Even from just working outside of the office for half of the week, remote workers could reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 54 million tons every year. Also the amount of resources needed within the office environment is reduced, meaning that paper, electricity and heating use are all cut down.

Hungry to learn more about how remote work impacts our lives and business? Sing up for free for Remote Future Summit - the leading global conference about remote work. In 2019, we are proud to be Partners of the event, together with Remote-how pushing an envelope with a goal of 10,000 virtual participants, a more interactive formula, and with physical meetups in some of the world’s best remote working hubs. The conference takes place from 15th to 17th of May. Join us online, from anywhere. Grab your seat here.