The top remote work stats for 2021

COVID-19 caused a mess for most businesses with the way it impacted their overall workflow and revenue stream. Companies of all sizes had to make snap decisions and adapt to social distancing rules and quarantine efforts. That caused tons of companies to either integrate or improve their remote working policies. Not doing so would have eventually led to their business operations falling apart.

With remote working surging significantly, there are plenty of questions that need to be answered. Is remote working just a passing trend? How long will companies rely on home offices in the coming future? Is the traditional era of office work going to disappear?

Businesses experience a massive change during 2020. 2021 doesn't seem to be stopping these remote working trends. If anything, it seems to be accelerating even faster than before. While remote working did exist previously, the pandemic showed how crucial it was to have a system in place that allowed employees to continue working even from home.

Fortunately, due to modern-day technology, remote working has become an easy process for many workers in varying industries. Working from home offers employees the chance to get work done when they are highly productive.

However, some businesses still consider remote working a passing thing. It is understandable, some companies are used to the office space, or maybe the type of work they do cannot be done through remote working. Transitioning over to remote working will impact a lot of aspects of the usual work style, such as communication and management.

There are still plenty of things for us to learn about remote working. To understand remote working better, we are going to go over some of the top remote work stats for 2021 in hopes of shedding some light on the current path remote working is heading into the future.

Percentage of teams working from home

After an entire year of dealing with a pandemic that forced offices to shut down and employees to work remotely, a significant number of US workers are still working from home. According to statistics provided by Upwork, over 56.8% of the American workforce are working remotely.

Out of that percentage, 41.0% of the workforce is still working entirely remotely, while the other 15.8% work only part-time from home.

These statistics show that plenty of teams have gotten used to remote working and are starting to enjoy the benefits it offers. According to Upwork, around 68% of hiring managers mentioned that having a better workflow, communication, and remote working experience than they previously did before the epidemic started.

Increases Productivity

Productivity is crucial for any business to remain competitive and to have a constant flow of revenue. If your employees are not remaining productive, then your projects will grind to a halt, and things will start to worsen from there. A study conducted by Stanford University discovered that productivity vastly increased from people who worked from home.

By comparing the in-office employees to the remote employees of a Chinese travel company researchers, discovered during those nine months, the remote employees were 13% more productive, with an extra day of output each week.

Boston Consulting Group managed to discover something interested during one of their surveys. 75% of employees felt that they remained or became more productive while working from home.

Furthermore, recent data shows that office workers spend an average of 66 minutes a day talking about non-work-related topics, whereas remote workers spend only 29 minutes per day doing the same thing as their workers.

The rise of remote working

The percentage of people working remotely in the U.S. has steadily soared. According to Flexjobs, the past five years have seen remote working grow by 44%. Between 2016 and 2017, remote work went up by 7.9%. During the past ten years, remote working has managed to see a 91% growth.

Since COVID-19 forced a remote working movement, some people are wondering if working from home will continue to surge even after the epidemic is resolved. BlueFace predicts that by 2025, remote working will become a fierce competitor against office locations.

With the way remote working is becoming increasingly popular with most employees, that prediction could become a reality. It also depends on how long the pandemic lasts. The longer people are required to work from home, the better accustomed they become to remote work.

With the amount of data being displayed by more places, there is a higher chance of remote working growing in the coming years, with BlueFace prediction becoming a possibility. It is something that executives and managers need to be aware of and prepare for in the future.

Upwork has also revealed some interesting statistics for the future of remote working. In today's business world, millennials and Gen Z workers make up only 38% of the workforce. However, as we reach 2028, they will become 58% of the workforce. Due to that increase in the coming years, most companies are more likely to employ some remote workers, than before.

Remote work saves businesses money

According to Global Workplace Analytics, if workers could work remotely half the time, it would result in $700 billion in national savings. Furthermore, companies would save an average of $11,000 per year for every part-time employee, and employees would also save somewhere between $2-7,000 a year. These stats don't take into account how much cheaper it is to hire remote workers than doing so in-house.

According to Legal Job Sites, US employers can save up $30 billion a day for allowing their employees to work from home. Without the need for massive office spaces, companies can take the time to downsize temporarily or permanently if they decide to keep remote working as an option. It will also lower the cost of rent, utilities, and cleaning services to maintain these buildings.

Sun Microsystems has already proven how valuable it is to allow employees to work from home for the past decade. The company has stated that they saved up to $68 million a year when it comes to real estate costs.

The flexibility of working remotely

Remote workers have proclaimed that working from home has offered them some great benefits, but the one most people agreed on is the flexibility it offers. Research revealed that 40% of respondents stated that the most significant of working from home is the flexible schedule.

Another 30% of respondents stated listing flexible locations is another reason why remote working is beneficial to them. Furthermore, other critical factors included more time to spend with the family and the ability to work from home.

A survey by FlexJobs was conducted to show how working from home impacts the mental health of remote workers. 80% of the respondents stated that having a flexible job allowed them to manage their mental health. Moreover, 66% of the participants stated that they would prefer to work remotely full-time after the pandemic is over, and 33% of them responded they would favor a combination of remote time and in-office.  

Employees with flexible working hours have better control over their work and life. It offers the freedom to do their work during specific hours while sparing time to spend time with family or their hobbies. Working from home gives people a chance to do things they usually would want to do in their daily lives. These activities can include going out for a job, taking the dog for a walk, exercising, or having time to deal with household chores.

Virtual Teambuilding

According to Team Building, over 2500% of businesses are investing in virtual team building activities due to COVID-19. With the way COVID-19 has impacted businesses globally, there has been a 2500% interest for online and virtual team building activities throughout quarantine.

With the number of people working from home, isolation is something that every employee will start to experience. Employers should take this seriously since studies have revealed that feelings of employee isolation cause productivity to go down by 21%. Team building exercises are capable of helping employees connect. Remote teams that interact with each other will feel less alone through these virtual team activities, which can lead to an increase in productivity and mental health.

How many employees want to remain remote workers?

With productivity on the rise and workers getting accustomed to the convenience of remote working, it should not be a surprise that most of them would like to remain as remote workers.

Gallop has posted a poll that shows more than 53% of US employees, who are currently working remotely, would like to continue doing so even after the pandemic has passed. This trend might continue increasing with even large companies like Microsoft and Twitter allowing their staff to work remotely indefinitely.

Conclusion

Remoting working will continue to expand in the coming years. While some businesses may still be reluctant to change their hiring policies, remote working can offer plenty of benefits if taken advantage of. Technology has changed the way employees work, and taking advantage of this will ensure your business improves overall. Just look at the stats we provided here. It shows growth in remote working in the coming years. It’s up to you whether you wish to adapt to this growing trend or not.