Since it has been a few years since the beginning of the pandemic, you might be wondering how many people work remotely in 2024.
Working from home isn’t necessarily a new concept, but there’s been a massive uptick in interest in remote work opportunities.
Remote work is becoming much more common between those who are self-employed or work for a company that lets them work from home.
As of 2023, roughly 27% of employees in the U.S. work remotely.
This number is expected to increase over time as more people are demanding a change in how we see the workforce.
Technology has eliminated a lot of the need to work in the office, and many companies are seeing a rise in productivity with employees working remotely.
This article is going to highlight the rising prevalence of remote work alongside many interesting statistics regarding shifts in the workforce.
Post Contents
How Many People Work Remotely?
Key Statistics
- ⅓ of jobs in the U.S. are being handled from home
- 61% of U.S. workers don’t have a job that can be done from home
- 14% of workers in the U.S. are working from home all the time
- 75% of remote workers agree it offers a better work-life balance
- 16% of companies in the U.S. have an entirely remote workforce
The U.S. Workforce Wants Change
The pandemic set off a trend with millions of people when it comes to their usual work schedule.
Considering Covid-19 forced everyone to stay home, many people were shoved into a remote work schedule.
Although many companies weren’t fond of this, they didn’t really have a choice.
It didn’t take long before millions of people became aware that they highly preferred working from home to being stuck in an office all day.
Of course, not every job can be done from home, but a light bulb went off in the entire workforce, as many people had no intention of returning to the office.
Even after the relevance of Covid-19 has died down over the years, millions of people have been looking for ways to keep their remote work lifestyle.
Many U.S. companies required employees to return to the office once Covid started to dwindle, but this also caused an influx of people quitting their jobs.
There has been such a significant shift in the workforce that millions of people would rather find a new remote job than return to an office environment.
Considering this sentiment has been ongoing since the pandemic started, there are many statistics that highlight the rise of a preference for remote work.
An Overview of Remote Work Statistics
When you take a look at statistics on remote work from a bird’s eye view, it highlights how many people are looking for a better work-life balance.
Keep in mind the statistics in this article are focused on professionals in the United States.
Fully remote positions are definitely available, but many people also enjoy a hybrid schedule that takes them into the office every now and then.
In our current workforce, most employees in the U.S. work roughly 5.8 remote days every month.
Part-time remote workers make up 66% of employees in the U.S., and 68% of employees would prefer a fully remote position.
Other general statistics include:
- 50% of employers believe remote work reduces absentees
- 44% of companies don’t currently allow remote work
- 59% of people in the U.S. are more likely to choose a remote work position
- 23% of employees would happily take a 10% pay cut just to work from home
The data makes it pretty clear that many employees are demanding a better balance between work and their personal life.
With the rapid shift we’ve seen over the last three years, many employers are struggling to keep up and meet demands.
However, there are many companies that have capitalized on this need and have seen many positive benefits from having a hybrid or fully remote workforce.
The numbers mentioned above will inherently change as more time passes.
Enough time has passed, and there are quite a few trends and predictions that show the consistent rise of remote work environments.
(Zippia)
Past, Present, and Future
Between 2018 and 2021, the number of remote workers in the U.S. grew four times larger.
This is a change from 6% to 26.7% of employees going fully remote.
Before the pandemic came along, roughly 75% of all employees in the U.S. had never worked remotely.
Analysts have predicted that by 2025, around 36.2 million Americans will be working entirely remotely.
Only five years after the boom of the pandemic, this is a 417% increase in remote workers.
As mentioned earlier, many employees requested that employees return to the office after Covid slowed down.
However, 81% of employees expect their employers to maintain a remote work environment.
This clash between the two is what led to so many people looking for new jobs.
Millions of people realized they prefer a better balance between work and their personal lives.
Although investors and business owners have the final word, it’s known that 85% of managers expect remote workforces to become the new normal.
Employees definitely don’t see this as a bad thing.
Many employers are frustrated at this change as they feel like they don’t have as much of a grip on their employees.
When in reality, many remote workers have shown improvements in productivity in most cases.
(Zippia)
The Pros and Cons of Remote Work
At a glance, remote work seems like the best-case scenario for employees, but this isn’t always the case.
Around 7% of remote workers admit that working from home makes it challenging to get their work done and meet deadlines.
36% of remote employees highlight that it hinders their ability to be mentored in their field, while 10% have mentioned that finding mentorship has become easier.
It’s evident there are varying sentiments around the pros and cons of remote work, but the truth is some people prefer to be in the office.
Although this group is definitely the minority, the rise in remote work doesn’t mean that in-office environments will become obsolete.
It simply means that the norms of working environments are going through a historical change.
Some people simply want to feel connected with those they work with.
41% of employees that never or rarely work from home see the advantage in feeling connected to their fellow employees.
Many organizations were originally worried about managing a remote workforce, but data shows that remote employees are highly trusted.
The reality here is that the work is getting done. If remote workers are handling what needs to be done, there isn’t much argument coming from management.
79% of fully remote workers are the most likely to feel trusted, and 68% of hybrid workers feel trusted when they’re in the office.
There’s clearly a split in preferences when it comes to the workforce in the United States.
Whereas millions of people prefer to work from home, many others simply can’t focus in that environment and would rather be in the office.
Nevertheless, one factor that can’t be ignored is that the in-office work schedule makes managing various aspects of one’s personal life difficult.
Many people have thoroughly enjoyed the new life balance with the shift to a hybrid or fully remote work schedule.
(PewResearch)
A Breakdown of Noticeable Benefits
Some benefits related to remote work are pretty obvious, but there are others that have only been discovered within the last few years. 32.2% of managers in the U.S. agree that they’ve noticed an increase in productivity since the workforce shift in 2020.
A whopping 94% of employees have mentioned their productivity is either the same or better since moving to a remote work environment.
Other statistics on this topic are listed in the table below.
| Remote Work Benefits | % of Employees Who Agree |
| Less Sick Days | 50% |
| Better Morale | 54% |
| Less Absences | 56% |
| Less Stress | 57% |
| Work-Life Balance | 75% |
These are some pretty significant numbers, but it’s still only a portion of the workforce, merely half in a few areas.
Although this is true, the number of employees opening up to the benefits of remote work is increasing as we speak.
Others have seen a positive improvement in their engagement with work. These stats come from 62% of workers in the U.S.
Interestingly, 21% of workers are happy to give up vacation time if they’re provided with a more flexible work schedule.
A statistic that employers can’t ignore is that turnover rates have reduced by 50% when employees are offered a remote work option.
These benefits show that when offered a better work-life balance, employees and companies benefit in the long run.
Of course, these statistics don’t pertain to jobs or industries that aren’t suitable for remote work, but remote work is still becoming more relevant than ever.
Many people are quick to focus on the vast benefits of remote work, but there are also quite a few challenges that come with this lifestyle.
Even more, some employees are finding out that remote work isn’t as enjoyable as they’d thought it would be.
(Zippia)
New Challenges in the Face of Remote Work
Many of the struggles that are commonly known with in-office work come as no surprise.
When it comes to remote work, employees are finding this comes with an entirely unique set of challenges.
Some people struggle with the isolation of remote work, while others find it hard to concentrate at home with so many distractions surrounding them.
A few highlights of remote work challenges include:
- 50% of remote workers tend to feel lonely at least once per week
- Unplugging at the end of the workday affects 40% of remote workers
- 6% of those working remotely have found they’d rather work in-office full time
This data can only be concluded with time, as many people are learning whether remote work is doable for them or not. Working fully remotely sounds like a dream to many individuals, but it definitely can feel quite isolating.
This isolation is something that many people aren’t fond of and can negatively affect some individuals’ mental health.
(Zippia)
A Look at Demographics
The largest percentage of remote workers comes from the Asian community.
Interestingly, Asians only make up 5.4% of the population in the U.S., but they account for 37% of remote workers. 29.9% of remote workers are white, 19.7% are black, and 16.2% are Hispanic/Latino.
Regarding industries, IT is seen as the most common industry to adopt a remote workforce.
Most people can understand this as many aspects of IT are simply handled from a computer.
With the various technologies that allow employees to stay connected, it isn’t hard to keep track of the work that needs to be done.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the number of women that have entered the remote workforce has risen to 23%.
For men, this figure is 16%, and these stats also show that women tend to prefer remote work environments more than men.
With the diverse nature of the United States, these statistics will fluctuate over time.
It also displays that people from all backgrounds see the positive aspects of remote work.
This rising interest in remote work also comes from seeing other people making the shift.
As family and friends start working fully remotely, many others want to experience that for themselves.
(Zippia)
Conclusion
It’s evident that there are pros and cons to a remote workforce, but this won’t stop it from becoming the new norm.
Experts expect remote work jobs to become much more common over the next five years.
This poses challenges for employers as they struggle to fill space at the office.
Nevertheless, the wave of interest in remote work will only become more prevalent over time, and the workforce on both sides of the coin will have to adapt.
This article provides an in-depth look at statics surrounding how many people work remotely to show how professional environments have changed in recent years.
