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The pandemic spurred one of the biggest changes ever, in the business world: the normalcy of remote work. While plenty of employees enjoyed the flexibility of working at home before COVID-19, remote work policies have since exploded, many organisations have adopted VoIP software, and there are more companies offering remote work roles now than ever before.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of March 2025, 22.8% of US workers worked remotely at least partially, which accounts for 36.07 million people. This is one of many work-from-home statistics that point to a new normal in the business world. But some companies still aren’t convinced. Most notably, Elon Musk has made a big push to get Tesla and Twitter employees back into the office.
Unfortunately for these employers, the data just doesn’t back it up. In this guide, we’ll cover a wide range of work-from-home statistics, which will reveal the truth about remote work benefits and downsides and whether productivity really is at risk by so-called telecommuting.
Key Stats to Know
- 97% of people recommend remote work to others (Buffer)
- 44% of businesses have not changed their remote work policy over the past year (Tech.co Impact of Technology on the Workplace Report 2025)
- Employees who work from home are more optimistic about work (89%) than those working in the office (77%) (ADP)
- Employers in the US allow their hybrid employees to work remotely 1.9 days per week, on average, higher than the worldwide average of 1.13 days per week. (US Career Institute)
Key Remote Working Statistics

The benefits of telecommuting and remote working have been plentiful, from less commuting and flexible schedules to saving money and improving work-life balance. But has work-from-home productivity actually improved? Here are a few key statistics that shine a little light on the new normal of the business world:
- 98% of respondents would like to work remotely at least some of the time, for the rest of their lives, in 2023. This is up slightly from 97% in 2022 (Buffer)
- 35% of respondents noted that remote working allowed for a more flexible schedule (Tech.co Impact of Technology on the Workplace Report 2025)
- 77% of workers believe their productivity is higher when working from home, compared to working in a traditional office (FlexJobs)
- 64% of remote workers say they’re very likely to look for job opportunities with another employer, provided they were not offered remote flexibility in the future (Gallup)
- Work from home employees spend 1.4 days more working each month (Airtasker)
Suffice it to say, remote work and telecommuting provide workers with incentive, flexibility, optimism, time, money, and an overall productivity boost, so it’s no wonder it’s popular among employees after the pandemic. After all, if you can dial in to work with technology such as VoIP software, there’s really no need to spend all that time and money coming into the office.
What Is the Difference Between Remote Working and Telecommuting?
According to experts, there are some key differences between remote working and telecommuting:
Telecommuting is the act of working remotely via the phone, email, or the internet. In most cases, telecommuters still live near the office.
Remote work is the act of working from anywhere but the office, whether digitally connected or not. Remote workers might live anywhere in the world, and are more likely to work out of the office full-time, rather than part-time.
Other than those slight differences in definition, they’re colloquially the same things, particularly since the pandemic. The average person will use them interchangeably, with remote work now the decidedly more popular term in a typical business setting.
How Could Working From Home Increase Worker Productivity?
The benefits of working from home don’t just revolve around employees, but extend to overall productivity and success for your entire business. In our Impact of Technology on the Workplace report, 20% of respondents stated that remote work enhances productivity, and plenty of other statistics have pointed in a similar direction.
However, how does working from home increase productivity? Here are some of the key ways:
- Reducing commuting time and the stress of travelling
- Creating a quieter and more personalized working space – a study from Standford found that those working from home increased their productivity by 13%, and attributed this to quieter working environment
- Travelling less and working from home more could result in fewer sick days
- Reducing the overall distractions that come with working in an office environment, such as noise and interruptions
- Improved work-life balance, making workers feel more satisfied with their hours and personal responsibilities, causing them to be more productive at work. In 2022, Future Forum found that remote employees have twice as much work-life balance as office workers
Remote working productivity statistics
As for how remote working can actually improve productivity at your business, here are a few statistics that should help motivate you:
- 79% of managers feel their team is more productive when they work remotely (US Career Institute)
- 83% of employees reported working more efficiently and with more productivity when working from home (McKinsey)
- Employees working from home two days a week are just as productive and likely to be promoted as their full-time office colleagues (Stanford University)
- Gen Z workers feel the most productive in a remote environment (Owl Labs)

Working From Home vs Office Working: How Can Each Benefit Your Business?
At this point in history, a lot of employees have had the chance to work both at home and in an office. From company culture and collaboration to flexible schedule and pajama pants, there are plenty of reasons to keep doing both, depending on your particular situation.
There are obviously pros and cons for each, so let’s take a look at how office work and working from home differ.
Work from home statistics
- US employers can save an average of $11,000 per year for every half-time telecommuter. Savings are based on increased productivity, cheaper real estate costs, and reduced absenteeism and turnover. (Global Workplace Analytics)
- Full-time office workers were more likely to change companies (26%) compared to hybrid/remote workers (17%) (Owl Labs)
- 79% of employees said they would be more loyal if an employer allowed for a more flexible schedule (FlexJobs)
- Remote employees have more job satisfaction (90%) than those commuting to work (82%) (ADP)
- 91% of employees worldwide prefer to work fully or almost completely remotely (Statista)
Office working statistics
- 31% of workers reported that if their employers threatened to eliminate remote work, they would start looking for new jobs, while 6% said they would quit outright (Owl Labs)
- 28.7% of employees want a job where they can work remotely at home all the time (US Career Institute)
- Office attendance in 2024 is 30% lower than it was in 2019 (McKinsey)
- Employees who work from home are more optimistic about work (89%) than those working in the office (77%) (ADP)
- Employees who worked from home 100% of the time are 20% happier on average compared to those who don’t (Forbes)
- Remote workers save approximately $7,000 annually in commute costs, food expenses, and childcare (DistantJob)

Strategies to Increase Work From Home Productivity
Now that you understand the value of remote work in comparison to in-office work, it’s fair to say you should at least look into it for your business. After all, saving money, improving productivity, and contributing to employee work-life balance sound pretty good to us.
In fact, the entire Tech.co team subscribes to the company’s hybrid work model, allowing us to work where we need to be flexible. We’ve had great success facilitating work relationships, hitting productivity goals, and generally knocking it out of the park when it comes to remote work.
However, remote work won’t just immediately improve productivity overnight. We followed remote work best practices to ensure that remote employees felt like part of the team. That’s why we’d recommend taking note of these three strategies for increasing work-from-home productivity in your team.
Check in regularly
When employees work in the office, it’s easy to stop by and learn about what they’re doing. However, when employees work remotely, it can be hard to know exactly what’s going on with them, which is why we recommend checking in regularly to ensure that they don’t feel like they’re left out in the cold.
According to Business Insider, remote workers get fewer instances of feedback than their in-office counterparts. Simply put, you need to pay attention to your remote employees to get the desired productivity out of them.
Celebrate achievements
Everyone loves to feel like they’ve done a good job, and it’s easy to celebrate achievements when you’re in the office. In fact, 37% of workers think the biggest driver for great work is recognition, which means you need to prioritize this kind of action when it comes to remote workers.
Whether it be a simply shoutout system on Slack or a full-on reward system for those who go above and beyond, making remote workers feel appreciated for their work can go a long way in encouraging productivity across your business.
Use the right tools
In the modern age, it’s fair to assume that the majority of your business operations have been digitized in one way or another. Fortunately, this can make transitioning to a hybrid or remote work model easier, allowing those at home to access important data anywhere.
However, from a functionality standpoint, you’re going to need more than Google Docs and a good attitude to encourage productivity from remote workers. Tools like VoIP phones and web conferencing platforms can make staying in touch with remote workers easy, while still allowing for flexible schedules. Big teams, such as ones working in call centers, will have different priorities than smaller teams working in offices.
Additionally, remote work comes with a lot of security issues that will need to be addressed before kicking off. Security breaches and ransomware attacks are far more viable when attacking those who are working outside of your direct system, which is where tools like VPNs, password managers, and antivirus software can help you nip those problems in the bud before your hybrid work model gets started.
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in a new era of remote working, where workers are able to complete tasks from the comfort of their own location while still playing an essential role in a business’s team and overall success.
And, this way of working doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, with a substantial number of workers in the US valuing the hybrid and remote work setup.
Statistics show that not only are remote workers more satisfied with their job and report better work-life balance, but report increased productivity and commitment to their company. However, ensuring your business follows the top remote work strategies and invests in the right digital tools such as VoIP phones is vital.
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