As remote work continues to grow from a nice-to-have perk to an expectation of employees and job seekers alike, the numbers indicate that there are many benefits to all parties involved, including companies.
Here are 9 remote work stats that quantify its positive impact.
2021 Remote Work Stats
1. Increases Productivity
A two-year study by Stanford University found an impressive increase in work productivity among people who worked from home. Comparing the in-office employees to the remote employees of a Chinese travel company, researchers found that over a nine month period, the remote employees were 13% more productive—nearly an extra day of output per week.
More recently, a survey by Boston Consulting Group found that despite the challenges of the pandemic, 75% of employees feel that they have maintained or improved their productivity.
2. Improves Loyalty
The same Stanford University research concluded that people who worked remotely were less likely to leave the company for other employment. The study found an overall 50% decrease in attrition among home-based workers.
Furthermore, 81% of workers would be more loyal to their employers if they had flexible work options, including remote work.
3. Decreases Missed Days
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends staying home if you’re sick, so remote workers are already ahead of the game.
As a bonus, when remote workers are feeling a little under the weather but can still work (and want to), they can work from home without using up a sick day. And employers don’t lose a day of productivity due to the sniffles.
4. Increases Workforce Diversity
Building a strong remote team can help companies meet workforce diversity goals. Because the talent pool for remote workers is truly global, the opportunities are exponentially greater to find talented workers who vary in gender and gender identity, race, ethnicity, abilities, and geographic location.
5. Reduces Costs for Employers
Even in “normal” years, the fact is that working remotely saves companies money. By some estimates, allowing employees to work from home just half of the time can save employers approximately $11,000 per employee.
6. Saves Workers Money
Remote workers can save about $7,000 a year on average, according to remote worker stats and figures from TECLA, a global IT recruiting company. The bulk of those savings comes from reducing or eliminating the cost of commuting, food, clothing, and child care.
7. Reduces Stress
A survey conducted by FlexJobs asked 3,900 people about how work impacts their mental health. Of the 2,100 people who reported they had a mental illness, such as anxiety or depression, 80% said that having a flexible job would help them manage their mental health.
8. Benefits the Environment
Remote work has numerous benefits for the environment. For example, if 3.9 million people worked from home just half the time, it would reduce the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere in the equivalent amount of removing 600,000 cars from the road for an entire year!
9. It’s Here to Stay
Upwork’s 2020 Future Workforce Pulse Report estimates that 1 in 4 Americans (26.7% of the workforce) will be working remotely in 2021. And 36.2 million Americans will be fully remote by 2025—which is an increase of 16.8 million people compared to pre-pandemic rates.
The pandemic drastically sped up the adoption of remote work. Companies like Coinbase, Dropbox, Shopify, and Twitter, to name a few, have decided that remote work works and are letting their employees permanently work remotely.
In 2020, some career fields ramped up their remote work efforts. The fastest growing career fields in 2020 included:
Want to Learn More About Remote Work?
Over the years, Remote.co has cultivated a community of employers and employees to facilitate idea sharing and tips, along with fully remote job postings. If you want to learn all about working remotely or implementing long-term remote work for your business, visit our Q&A with some of the top remote companies.
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By Adrianne Bibby | Categories: Why Go Remote