Return-To-Office Appears To Be Winning With The Proportion Of People Working From Home Dropping To Its Lowest Level Since The Covid-19 Pandemic Began
The proportion of Americans working from home has fallen to the lowest level since the pandemic started, according to Census Bureau data.
Between September 20 and October 2, only around 25.9% of households had at least one person working remotely for at least one day a week, per the Bureau’s latest Household Pulse Survey.
Bloomberg reported that the proportion of Americans working from home peaked in March 2021. Census Bureau estimates show that around 38.8% households had at least one person working remotely at least once a week between March 3 and March 15, 2021 and around 39.1% from March 17 to March 29.
The fall in the proportion of Americans working from home comes amid a continued return-to-office drive as COVID-19 rates fall and employers debate the productivity of working from home.
A recent report from Goldman Sachs showed that research studies have divergent conclusions on the effects of remote work on productivity. Some studies suggest that people who work from home are less productive because they get distracted by, for example, household chores and caring responsibilities, but employees say that working remotely or in a hybrid format means they have a better work-life balance.
Dropbox CEO Drew Houston recently told Fortune that his company, which describes itself as “remote-first,” dedicates 90% of the year to remote work and the remaining 10% to employee off-site events.
“If you trust people and treat them like adults, they’ll behave like adults,” Houston told Fortune. “Trust over surveillance.”
Some workers are switching jobs to avoid return-to-office mandates. Some people are are even sticking with remote jobs they don’t enjoy because of the struggles of finding another position that would allow them to work from home.
“Remote workers who want to stay that way are handcuffed to their jobs,” Insider’s Rebecca Knight wrote.
Data shows that remote workers are more likely to be college-educated, in higher-income brackets, and willing to take a pay cut to avoid having to go back to the office.
