99 Remote Work Statistics for 2021

Remote work is changing the landscape of our lives faster than we ever could have imagined. We may not know exactly what the future holds, but we know for sure that things will never be the same after the pandemic. 

Get ready for brand new tools, workspaces, and ways of doing things. To get an idea of what’s in store, take a look at some of these staggering statistics!

1. 74% of survey respondents agree that the ability to work remotely would make them less likely to leave their employer.
2. Higher-wage workers are 6 times as likely to be able to work from home as lower-wage workers.
3. According to Zillow, almost 2 million renter households -equivalent to 4.5% of renters in the U.S.-  can now purchase a home somewhere in the U.S. thanks to decreased prices during the pandemic.
4. Over 80% of company leaders surveyed said their organizations plan to permit employees to work remotely at least part of the time upon reopening from the pandemic. 
5. 61% of remote workers would expect a pay increase if they were suddenly unable to work remotely.
6. Remote workers have the same potential impact on air quality as planting over 91 million trees.
7.  San Francisco housing inventory is up 96% over 2020.
8. San Francisco listing prices have dropped by 5% during the pandemic. 
9. Manhattan home values have dropped 4.2% as residents move away.
10. 71% of survey respondents agree that the ability to work remotely would make them more likely to choose one employer over another in their next job.
11. 82% of survey respondents agree that working remotely would make them feel more trusted at work.
12. 35% of individual contributors are able to work remotely.
13. 5% of founder/C-level workers are able to work remotely.
14.  27% of new remote workers are considering moving away from their current location.
15. Greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced by the equivalent of taking more than 600,000 cars off the road for an entire year due to remote work during the pandemic.
16.  In 2021, 1 in 4 Americans are expected to work remotely, totalling approximately 39 million people.  
17. That’s the equivalent of taking 6,000,000 cars off the roads for one year.
18. 62% of remote workers work remotely at different frequencies.
19. 41.8% of the American workforce continues to work remotely in 2021.
20.  An estimated 26.7% of American workers will still be working from home through the end of 2021.
21.  22% of the workforce – or 36.2 million Americans-  will be working remotely by 2025.
22. That is an 87% increase from the number of remote workers in 2019.
23. It’s estimated that 13 to 27 million people will be working from home in 2021.
24. That figure would reduce commuting miles by 70 to 140 billion annually.
25. Full-time remote workers say they’re happy in their job 22% more than people who never work remotely.
26. It’s estimated that remote workers save, on average, $4,000 a year compared to onsite workers.
27. 24% of survey respondents would take a pay cut of up to 10% in order to work remotely.
28. 20% of survey respondents would take a pay cut of more than 10% in order to work remotely.
29. PayScale found that remote workers earn 8.3% more than non-remote workers with the same role and qualifications.
30. 30% of remote workers surveyed were most concerned about maintaining corporate culture. 
31. 61% of respondents said they had implemented more frequent check-ins between employees and managers while working remotely.
32. Mark Zuckerberg said that more than 95% of Facebook’s workforce was working remotely.
33. In the next 10 years, Mark Zuckerberg thinks that half of Facebook workers could be remote.
34. Over 50% of HR professionals responding to a recent survey said they want to work from home permanently.
35. 55% of remote workers said they would elect to continue working remotely.
36. 68% of tech workers showed interest in making their remote work accommodation permanent. 
37. The percentage of employees working remotely will drop from its current 53% to 22%
38. The percentage of employees working remotely was 7% in 2019.
39. Over 50% of knowledge workers said they lacked access to a dedicated desk, personal computer, laptop or reliable internet connection in the beginning of the pandemic.
40. 16%  of Hispanic or Latino workers are able to work from home.
41. 19.7% of black workers are able to work from home.
42. Less than 30% of workers can work from home.
43. 37 % of Asian workers are able to work from home, more than any other ethnicity.
44. 30% of white workers are able to work remotely.
45. 9.2% of workers with earnings less than or equal to the 25th percentile are able to work remotely. 
46. 61.5% of workers with earnings greater than the 75th percentile are able to work remotely.
47. 8.8% of leisure and hospitality workers are able to work remotely.
48. 57.4% of finance industry workers are able to work remotely.
49. 30.3% of manufacturing industry workers are able to work remotely.
50. 25.9% of Education and Health services workers are able to work remotely.
51. 11.1% of Agriculture workers are able to work remotely.
52. Among all workers, only 34.9% of parents in households with children are able to work remotely.
53. 900,000 leisure and hospitality workers lost their jobs in the summer of 2020.
54. Many of the 91% of leisure and hospitality workers that cannot work remotely have jobs that require high amounts of personal contact.
55. 78% of CEOs agree that remote collaboration is here to stay for the long-term.
56. 65% of respondents reported wanting to be work remotely full-time after the pandemic
57. 31% want a hybrid remote work environment.
58. 96% of survey respondents desire some form of remote work.
59. 27% of workers say that the ability to work from home is so important to them that they would take a 10%-20% pay cut to work remotely. 
60. 81% say they would be more loyal to their employer if they had flexible work options.
61. Workplace distractions cause businesses to lose $600 billion a year.
62. Remote workers are 35% to 40% more productive than their in-office counterparts.
63. 94% of surveyed employers report that company productivity has been the same or higher since employees started working from home during the pandemic.
64. 67% of surveyed employers report that company productivity has been the same since employees started working from home during the pandemic.
65. 27% of surveyed employers report that company productivity has been higher since employees started working from home during the pandemic.
66.  Remote workers report a Workforce Happiness Index of 75 out of 100.  In-office employees report a score of 71.
67. Remote employees are 7% more likely to report being satisfied with their jobs than on-site workers.
68. 51% of employees surveyed report being more productive when working remotely.
69. 49% of working mothers say they are more productive working from home. 
70. 50% of working fathers say they are more productive working from home.
71. 75% of employees working remotely report being more productive in reference to their individual tasks.
72. 51%  of employees working remotely report being more productive in reference to their collaborative tasks.
73. Employees without access to remote work are nearly 2x more likely to have poor or very poor mental health.
74. 48% of those with remote work options say their work-life balance is excellent or very good.
75. 36% of those without remote work options say their work-life balance is excellent or very good.
76. 54% of those with remote work options have the emotional support they need at work.
77. 45% of those without remote work options have the emotional support they need at work.
78. 54% of survey respondents work remotely at least once each month. 
79. 48% work remotely at least once per week. 
80. 30% work remotely full-time.
81. 68% of workers around the world worked remotely at least once a month before the pandemic in 2019.
82. US full-time remote workers work remotely full-time 66% more frequently remote workers from other countries.
83. 32% of team managers are able to work remotely.
84. 17% of Customer Support professionals are able to work remotely.
85. 12% of Sales professionals are able to work remotely.
86. 81% of respondents agree that working remotely would allow them to better be able to manage work-life conflict.
87. 81% of survey respondents agreed that the option to work remotely would make them more likely to recommend their company to a friend.
88. 80% of respondents agree that working remotely would make them feel like their employer cares.
89. 80% of all survey respondents agreed that the ability to work remotely would make them less stressed.
90. 34% of survey respondents would take a pay cut of up to 5% in order to work remotely.
91. 42% of remote workers plan to work remotely more often in the future
92. 51% of on-site workers want to work remotely in the future.
93. 71% of remote workers say they are happy with their job.
94. 55% of on-site workers say they are happy with their job.
95. 55% of remote workers would be likely to look for another job if they were no longer allowed to work remotely.
96. 47% of HR, legal and compliance, finance, and real estate professional survey respondents said they intend to allow employees to work remotely on a full-time basis.
97. 43% of those same respondents would grant flex days.
98. 42% said they would provide flex hours.
99. 13% more remote workers say they are likely to stay in their current job for the next 5 years than onsite workers.
    
    
    Sources:

https://www.hrdive.com/news/gartner-over-80-of-company-leaders-plan-to-permit-remote-work-after-pande/581744/

https://www.epi.org/blog/black-and-hispanic-workers-are-much-less-likely-to-be-able-to-work-from-home/

https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/remote-work-statistics/#:~:text=Considering%20that%201%20in%204,to%20140%20billion%20every%20year!