If you're thinking about embracing a remote work, remote-first model in your team or company, then you probably will want some statistics to convince your boss. In this article, we round up all the most important statistics about remote work in 2024, from all around the world.

Get the latest on remote work with over 100 statistics and trends from September 2024, updated regularly to keep you in the know!

Statistics on remote work adoption in 2024

• 67% of US firms offer work location flexibility. (Flex Index, Q3 2024)

• 90% of firms founded since 2011 are now offering flexibility. This trend is consistent among larger firms as well. For companies with over 500 employees, less than 70% of those founded before 2000 offer work location flexibility, compared to 89% of those established in 2011 or later. (Flex Index, Q3 2024).

• Technology and Telecommunications rank among the top three most flexible industries, with Insurance securing the second spot, offering 91% of companies work location flexibility. (Flex Index, Q3 2024).

• Smaller firms with 500 or fewer employees are most likely to choose Fully Flexible models. (Flex Index, Q3 2024)

• Between 22 May and 2 June 2024, working arrangements among UK workers were as follows: Only worked from home: 14% (compares to 38% in June 2020) (Forbes, 2024)
• Distribution of days worked from home over a week: Monday: 58%, Tuesday: 67%, Wednesday: 64%, Thursday: 63%, Friday: 65%, Saturday: 6%, Sunday: 7% (Forbes, 2024)

• In the US, working from home has stabilized at 25% of workdays. Before COVID, just a few years ago, remote work amounted to less than 5% of workdays, around one day per month. It then surged to 60% during the COVID-induced lockdowns, but we didn't witness a complete return to the 5% mark or anything close to it when offices reopened. (Nick Bloom/WFHResearch, 2023)

• According to the latest data from Kastle, which measures office occupancy by badge swipe-ins, offices are utilized less than ever, at an average of 47.3% across ten key metro areas, going as low as 37.5% in the San Jose metro area. (Kastle, 2023)

• Only 39% of US companies require office workers to be full time on-site, down from 49% at the start of the year. Employee choice models are on the rise: 26% of companies today, up from 23% at the start of the year. (Scoop/Flex Index, 2023)

• 39% of US companies require office workers to be full time on-site. Employee choice models are on the rise: 26% of companies today. Public companies are more flexible in every industry.(Scoop/Flex Index, 2023)

• Large US public companies are significantly more flexible. 50% of private companies require employees to work Full Time In Office versus 25% for public companies, while just 18% of Fortune 500 companies require Full Time In Office work for their corporate employees. (Scoop/Flex Index, 2023)

• Professional Services companies are much more likely to be Fully Flexible vs. companies in other industries. 56% of Professional Services companies let employees choose whether to come into the office vs 33% across all industries. (Flex Index, 2023)

Statistics about remote work productivity

The media seems to be focused on making work from home look bad – often spreading false or misleading anecdotal evidence that remote and hybrid work decrease productivity.

We thought it was time to get data on this and did our own study on employee productivity in July 2022. What we learned is that hybrid and remote managers are very pleased with their way of working, and don't see any of the difficulties that CEOs and company owners often talk about. The study revealed:

• Gensler found an interesting gap in their 2023 global workplace research study of 14,000 office workers across nine countries and 10 industries: employees were coming into the office half of their time, but say they ideally needed the office two-thirds of a typical work week for their productivity. This uncovered that employees would be willing to return more often for a new mix of experiences. (Gensler, 2023)

• Four key categories of space can impact the ideal need to work in the office — spaces for individual work, creative group work, to reflect and restore, and to connect and recharge. Most (90% of) office workers have easy access to at least one of these space categories yet only 47% have access to all four space categories. The greater the access to all four categories correlates with a greater need to work in the office for productivity. (Gensler, 2023)

• ‍30% of respondents said that less or no time commuting enabled them to be more productive. (Gartner)
• A survey amongst government workers showed that sixty-six percent would consider leaving the EPA if flexibility was reduced. A shockingly high 97% of employees surveyed said that work-from-home flexibility has helped them be more productive. (The Hill)

Remote work collaboration statistics

• 36% of remote managers say the lack of face-to-face interactions is one of the main challenges in their work. (FlexOS)
• 46% employees find it easier to build relationships with remote colleagues compared to in-office colleagues. (Owl Labs)

Statistics on managing remote teams

• 21,4% managers said the hardest part of managing remote teams is building relationships. (Kona)
• Contrary to popular belief, 77% of managers find it easy, and 62% find it enjoyable or very enjoyable to manage remote teams. (FlexOS)

• Managers report that employee satisfaction and morale (60%) is a major benefit of remote work, alongside a reduction in commute time and stress (54%), improved work-life balance (53%), increased productivity (35%) and an expanded talent pool (30%.) (FlexOS)
• Managers are critical in hybrid and remote work, because employees are 7.9x more likely to stay at a job when given consistent growth opportunities by their managers, great managers can get 22% higher employee engagement across their teams, and teams with great managers tend to have 78% more psychological safety, which is one of the essential factors behind effective performance. (Humu)
• 85% of employees said the most important factor in an employee’s working life is a supportive manager. 92% remote worker feel the importance of a supportive manager. (Owl Labs, 2023)

Return to office statistics

• Do people want to go back to the office? Asked to return to the office full-time, 15% of hybrid and remote managers in the US would consider looking for a new job, and 59% would return if needed. Only 26% would happily return to the office. (FlexOS)

• Data from a survey we did last year showed that 52% of Singaporeans would consider quitting their hybrrid or remote jobs if they were asked to return to the office. (FlexOS)

• 73% of employees need a solid reason to return to the workplace rather than just company expectations. (Microsoft)
• 74% of workers would be motivated to go to the office more often to meet with their work friends. (Microsoft)
• Shifting away from Return to Office (RTO) to the contemporary conversation centred on values-based flexible working and purpose-driven gathering that drives wellbeing and business benefits. This represents a necessary evolution in the organizational narrative and a holistic and hyper-personalized approach that organizations should embrace to serve their people, teams and organization. (LiquidSpace)‍
• How people work has fundamentally changed yet 63% of global workers have returned to physical workplaces that have not been remodeled since the pandemic. A majority (72%) of U.S. workers have choice of where to work within the workplace however, they may not have the choices they need. (Gensler, 2023)

Statistics about employees motivations to work remote

• 98% of remote workers expressed their desire to continue working remotely, at least part of the time, for the rest of their careers. (Buffer)
• 66% of managers saw increased productivity, and 48.5% said productivity has ‘significantly improved.’ Only 2% saw a decrease in productivity. Managers said their own productivity has significantly improved (38%) and not decreased (96%) (FlexOS)
• Employee satisfaction and morale (60%) is a major benefit of remote work, alongside a reduction in commute time and stress (54%), improved work-life balance (53%), increased productivity (35%) and an expanded talent pool (30%.) (FlexOS)
• Regarding the social aspect, 86% of ASEAN respondents observed improvement in relationships with family and 55% for friends. 73% of the ASEAN employees reported saving more than 4 hours a week, while 32% saved over 8 hours. Going further, 65% were able to reinvest the extra time saved from unplanned office interactions and no commuting by spending it with friends and family, which improved their holistic well-being. (Cisco)

Wellbeing statistics for remote employees

• Of all the variables Gallup analyzed, work location shows the biggest differences in employees’ experiences with loneliness. Fully remote employees report significantly higher levels of loneliness (25%) than do those who work exclusively on-site (16%) -- hybrid workers fall in between at 21%. (Gallup, 2024)
• Employees who are burned out report 3.9x more stress and anxiety at work compared to employees who are not. (Future Forum)
• 63% of remote workers said they had experienced burnout or mental health issues. Burnout was highest among CXOs (78%) and VPs (81%)(Kona).
• 60% of employees noted improved physical well-being, with 79% exercising more, 78% feeling physically fit, and 77% feeling healthier. In terms of mental well-being, the study saw improved emotional well-being (59%), mental well-being (69%), and reduced stress levels (59%). (Cisco)
• Burnout of remote workers worsened because of the pandemic (38%) than are those working in an office (28%). Companies that switched to remote work during the pandemic probably didn’t have the structures or processes in place to manage this change successfully (Indeed)
• Pay equity among workers regardless of location was at the top of the list of most important factors at a company, with 84% of workers saying it’s important. (Owl Labs, 2023)
• People who are burned out report 19% lower productivity and 29% lower ability to focus than employees who report not being burned out at work. (Future Forum)
• Female workers show 24% more burnout than their male counterparts, and 18-to-29-year-olds show 20% more burnout than workers age 30+. (Future Forum)

Statistics about remote work cost savings

• Organizations can save an average of $11,000 per year for every employee who works remotely half of the time. (Global Workplace Analytics)
• Companies in Australia can save $7,579 per employee per year on office space and lower wages by hiring remote talents in lower-cost labor markets. (B2BHQ)
• Working in an office is $36 more expensive per day than working remote. (Owl Labs, 2023)
• 29% of employees would expect a pay increase to make up for the additional costs if no longer able to work remotely. (Owl Labs, 2023)

Remote work Statistics by generation

• 40% of the Asia Pacific employees prefer remote work, which is higher than Latin America (39%), Europe (35%), and North America (34%). Millennials showed the highest preference (47%), followed by baby boomers (18%). (Unisys)

APAC remote statistics in 2023

• 52% of Singaporeans would consider quitting their job if they were asked to return to the office. (FlexOS)
• Countries like Australia, Malaysia, and Singapore lead the charge in remote working days. Singapore, in particular, stands out globally, with an average of 2.8 days of work from home per week. (Nick Bloom/WFHResearch)

• Regarding the social aspect, 86% of ASEAN respondents observed improvement in relationships with family and 55% for friends. 73% of the ASEAN employees reported saving more than 4 hours a week, while 32% saved over 8 hours. Going further, 65% were able to reinvest the extra time saved from unplanned office interactions and no commuting by spending it with friends and family, which improved their holistic well-being. (Cisco)
• Looking at the health aspect, more than half (60%) of employees noted improved physical well-being, with 79% exercising more, 78% feeling physically fit, and 77% feeling healthier. In terms of mental well-being, the study saw improved emotional well-being (59%), mental well-being (69%), and reduced stress levels (59%). (Cisco)

• 49% of the employees have been somehow negatively affected by remote work settings. 51% of the employees faced a lack of interaction with their colleagues, 27% reported facing noise negatively impact their quality of work, while 28% say that they could not collaborate or communicate effectively. (Microsoft)
• Younger generations, notably Gen X, is more interested in office work to connect with senior leadership (78% of Millennials & Gen Z Vs. 72% of Gen X and older). (Unisys)‍
• 64.2% of Millennials want office space for collaboration, while 61.5% want to use it for internal meetings and activities. On the other hand, over 40% of baby boomers and Gen X wants to have office space for client meetings. (Unisys)
• Gen Z (18-24) in Singapore wants to be in the office for on-the-job learning so they can get direct feedback. (FlexOS)

• 5.2% of the workforce across Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and Australia worked remotely before the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic forced a rapid shift to hybrid work, with over 36% of the workforce going hybrid by November 2023. (Accenture)

Statistics prove that remote work are here "for good"

The trends we shared above indicate that remote work has become more popular than ever, and their momentum continues to grow.

Companies and employees are recognizing the multitude of benefits these models bring to the table. As we embrace remote work, we open doors to increased job satisfaction, enhanced productivity, greater work-life balance, reduced operating costs, and a positive environmental impact.

Shifting to work-from-home policies enables organizations to tap into a wider talent pool, fostering diversity and inclusion.

As we navigate the evolving work landscape, the transformative power of remote work is undeniable, ushering in a new era where flexibility, choice, and collaboration thrive, ultimately leading to the success and well-being of individuals and businesses.