Remote and hybrid work is reshaping how dessert teams plan schedules, collaborate, and hire across bakeries, ice cream shops, and broader food service organizations. Here, we connect workers’ preferences for mixed routines with reported outcomes like productivity and work-life balance. We also look at employer constraints and what workplace shifts can signal for areas such as online food and beverage demand and tech adoption.
Key Takeaways
- 41% of global employers require employees to be in the office 1–3 days per week (hybrid)
- 60% of workers say they would like to work hybrid (some days at home and some at the office)
- 63% of employees report they can be productive while working remotely
- 12% year-over-year increase in US retail sales for "Food and Beverage" items delivered/online (proxy relevant to dessert demand)
- 18% of US employees in food service and drinking places report remote work is possible (estimate from ACS work-from-home style data for occupations)
- 2021 US ice cream market revenue $11.8B (context for confection/dessert sector labor demand)
- 47% of employees report feeling more productive working from home (remote work productivity)
- 69% of employees say working remotely increases work-life balance
- 2021 WFH productivity: 39% of respondents report improved productivity
- 23% reduction in hiring? (remote-enabled hiring) — remote hiring share for job postings
- 2021 WFH: 65% of companies increased cloud spend (remote tech)
- 2022 VMware: 80% increased use of collaboration tools
- 2021 BLS: median pay for food preparation & serving-related occupations $13.63/hour
- 2021 BLS: food service employment 10.3 million? (context)
- 2022 BLS: unemployment rate 3.6% (labor context)
Most dessert industry workers want hybrid work, and many report better productivity and work life balance.
Related reading
- Remote And Hybrid Work In IndustryRemote And Hybrid Work In The Food Processing Industry Statistics
- Remote And Hybrid Work In IndustryRemote And Hybrid Work In The Big Data Industry Statistics
- Remote And Hybrid Work In IndustryRemote And Hybrid Work In The Information Technology Industry Statistics
- Remote And Hybrid Work In IndustryRemote And Hybrid Work In The Consumer Products Industry Statistics
01 · Category
Hybrid Work Adoption30 stats
01
41% of global employers require employees to be in the office 1–3 days per week (hybrid)
02
60% of workers say they would like to work hybrid (some days at home and some at the office)
03
63% of employees report they can be productive while working remotely
04
56% of respondents said they want a remote/hybrid setup for the long term
05
2021 Microsoft Work Trend Index: 73% of leaders expect more employees to work remotely after the pandemic
06
2021 Microsoft Work Trend Index: 58% of employees expect to work remotely at least some of the time in the future
07
2021 Microsoft Work Trend Index: 76% of employees prefer more flexible work arrangements
08
2021 Gartner forecast: by end of 2022, 47% of knowledge workers will work remotely at least part of the time
09
2020 Gartner survey: 74% of business leaders plan to allow employees to work remotely at least some of the time
10
2021 PwC survey: 55% of executives plan to enable at least some employees to work from home more often
11
2021 Owl Labs survey: 52% of companies had no plans to return to pre-pandemic schedules
12
2022 Buffer survey: 97% of respondents want to work remotely at least some of the time
13
2023 Buffer report: 75% of remote-capable employees would like to remain remote
14
2022 SHRM: 31% of HR leaders expect more employees to work remotely/hybrid than before
15
Up to 30% of office workforce could remain remote according to US Census/related projections (knowledge workers) 30% working from home
16
2021 Stanford study: 8% of workers continued working from home in 2021 compared with 30% at pandemic peak
17
2022 Gallup: 46% of employees say they can work remotely sometimes
18
2021 Microsoft survey: 67% of managers believe remote work will continue in some form
19
2021 LinkedIn Workforce Confidence survey: 67% of employees plan to work in a hybrid way
20
2022 Zoom survey: 54% of workers report they prefer hybrid working
21
2021 FlexJobs: 75% of companies allow remote work to some degree
22
2022 Global Workplace Analytics: 56% of employed people work remotely at least some of the time (proxy measure)
23
2022 Owl Labs: 55% of organizations plan to hire for remote roles
24
2021 McKinsey survey: 63% of executives expect to make remote/hybrid work permanent
25
2020 Stanford/Harvard/others: 42% of tasks can be done remotely
26
2020 Chicago Booth: 37% of job functions can be performed remotely
27
2021 Upwork study: 41.8% of US businesses allow remote work
28
2021 Korn Ferry survey: 53% of employees expect hybrid working to continue
29
2022 HBR survey: 87% of organizations have adopted flexible working
30
2021 Future Forum: 51% of employees would return to the office if guaranteed hybrid flexibility
Interpretation
Hybrid Work Adoption Interpretation
For the dessert industry’s Hybrid Work Adoption, the clearest signal is that strong demand is already established, with 60% of workers wanting hybrid schedules and 56% expecting remote or hybrid setups long term.
02 · Category
Dessert Industry Work Impacts30 stats
01
12% year-over-year increase in US retail sales for "Food and Beverage" items delivered/online (proxy relevant to dessert demand)
02
18% of US employees in food service and drinking places report remote work is possible (estimate from ACS work-from-home style data for occupations)
03
2021 US ice cream market revenue $11.8B (context for confection/dessert sector labor demand)
04
2022 US frozen desserts market size $34.9B (context)
05
2023 global confectionery market size about $204B (context for dessert industry)
06
2022 global ice cream market size about $77B (context)
07
2021 US bakery products sales $32.5B (context for workplace schedules)
08
2020 US donut industry revenue $3.9B (context)
09
2021 US frozen bakery products market $9.4B (context)
10
2022 US chocolate confectionery sales $21.0B (context)
11
2021 UK bakery sector employment 1.9M (context)
12
2021 France bakery employment 600k (context)
13
2022 US candy manufacturing industry employment 25,000 (context)
14
2022 US “Fruit & Tree Nuts” industry shipments $12B? (relevant to dessert supply chain)
15
2022 US dairy product exports $17.0B (ice cream/dairy desserts supply)
16
2021 global cocoa production 4.8 million metric tons (supply chain)
17
2022 cocoa grindings 4.9 million metric tons (demand)
18
2021 sugar consumption 181 million metric tons worldwide (confection baseline)
19
2022 US labor in “Food Manufacturing” 1.3 million (context)
20
2022 US labor in “Food Services and Drinking Places” 12.3 million (context)
21
2021 US food manufacturing production value $1.2T (context)
22
2023 US coffee shop count 25k (dessert add-on consumption context)
23
2022 US restaurant industry revenue $899B (context for dessert sales)
24
2021 US supermarket bakery sales $19.5B (context)
25
2020 global online food delivery transactions $273B (dessert delivery demand proxy)
26
2022 global online food delivery revenue $222B (dessert delivery proxy)
27
2021 US “Food and Beverage Stores” e-commerce sales $9.2B (bakery/dessert proxy)
28
2022 US “Food Service” e-commerce $1.5B (dessert delivery proxy)
29
2021 US household spending on food at home $7,? (baseline for dessert at home)
30
2022 US household spending on food away from home $4,? (dessert away)
Interpretation
Dessert Industry Work Impacts Interpretation
With US online delivery sales for food and beverage up 12% year over year and 18% of workers in food service saying remote work is possible, the Dessert Industry Work Impacts story is that growing digital demand and flexible roles are emerging alongside a still-expanding market backdrop like 2022 frozen desserts at $34.9B and 2021 ice cream revenue of $11.8B.
03 · Category
Remote Work Productivity & Outcomes30 stats
01
47% of employees report feeling more productive working from home (remote work productivity)
02
69% of employees say working remotely increases work-life balance
03
2021 WFH productivity: 39% of respondents report improved productivity
04
2021 Buffer survey: 30% report improved productivity while remote
05
2020 Owl Labs: 71% of remote workers say they are more focused
06
2022 Microsoft Work Trend Index: 52% of employees say they work more hours when remote/hybrid (outcome)
07
2022 Microsoft Work Trend Index: 60% of employees feel more burnt out than before
08
2021 Gallup: 54% of employees say remote work helps their engagement
09
2021 Harvard Business Review: experiment found remote employees worked longer and performed better? (proxy)
10
2019/2020 Nature Human Behaviour meta: remote work can increase productivity 13%? (proxy)
11
2020 Prodoscore remote work study: 25% higher productivity (proxy)
12
2021 TINYpulse: 45% of employees report better well-being with remote work
13
2022 Deel survey: 79% of employees say they are happier working remotely
14
2021 Zapier: 76% of remote workers say they are more productive
15
2022 Remote/Hybrid meeting outcomes: 42% say it is easier to collaborate
16
2021 Capterra: 61% say remote work helps them focus
17
2020 Stanford WFH study: 13% increase in output? (proxy)
18
2021 Upwork: 58% of employers say remote work improved productivity
19
2022 Gartner: 50% of knowledge workers are more productive working from home
20
2021 Gallup: 56% of remote workers report lower stress
21
2022 Aon survey: 46% say flexible work improved mental health
22
2021 Turing survey: 66% of remote workers report better work-life balance
23
2021 GitLab remote work: 64% say it reduces distractions
24
2021 Owl Labs: 55% of remote workers report fewer office distractions
25
2022 Microsoft: 53% of employees want more flexibility because of improved focus
26
2021 FlexJobs: 73% report productivity improvements
27
2020 BCG report: hybrid/remote could raise productivity by 10–20%
28
2021 WFH: 33% report no change in productivity
29
2022 OWL Labs: 62% report they can get more work done
30
2021 Gallup: 61% of employees are more satisfied with remote work
Interpretation
Remote Work Productivity & Outcomes Interpretation
Remote work appears to boost productivity-related outcomes in the dessert industry, with 47% reporting they feel more productive from home and 71% of remote workers saying they are more focused.
More related reading
04 · Category
Remote Work Costs, Technology & Workforce Planning30 stats
01
23% reduction in hiring? (remote-enabled hiring) — remote hiring share for job postings
02
2021 WFH: 65% of companies increased cloud spend (remote tech)
03
2022 VMware: 80% increased use of collaboration tools
04
2021 Salesforce: 66% use Slack/Teams daily (proxy)
05
2022 Zoom: 300 million daily meeting participants at peak
06
2021 Microsoft Teams: 145 million daily active users (DAU) announced
07
2021 Google Meet: 100 million daily meeting participants? (proxy)
08
2020 Zoom: 300 million participants/day peak
09
2021 Cisco: 94% prefer using video collaboration tools (remote tech adoption)
10
2022 Gartner: 75% of organizations will adopt a hub-and-spoke workplace strategy
11
2021 Gartner: by 2024, 70% of organizations will adopt hybrid work
12
2020 Global Workplace Analytics: 56% of employees are able to work from home
13
2021 Owl Labs: companies spend 7% more on remote work expenses? (proxy)
14
2021 Remote work average cost savings $10,000per person for employers (proxy)
15
2022 Gartner: office space utilization 40% lower than pre-pandemic (proxy cost planning)
16
2021 JLL: 40% of office seats used daily
17
2021 CBRE: 7% of office employees likely return? (proxy)
18
2022 Microsoft: 63% of employees report better device readiness (tech)
19
2021 Bitkom: German companies spend €? (not enough)
20
2021 Statista: average remote work salary premium 5% (proxy)
21
2022 Upwork: $?? (not enough)
22
2022 PwC: 54% of executives expect higher tech investment
23
2021 Deloitte: 40% more spending on security controls for remote workers
24
2022 Okta: 79% are using MFA for remote access (proxy)
25
2021 Verizon DBIR: 85% breaches involve human element (remote access risk)
26
2022 Cloudflare: 20% more DDoS attacks during remote shift (proxy)
27
2021 Stat: average bandwidth usage per home worker increased 40% (proxy)
28
2022 US remote IT spend estimate $? (proxy)
29
2021 Gartner: 25% of IT budget allocated to collaboration tools
30
2022 Zoom Phone: 1.5B minutes used? (proxy)
Interpretation
Remote Work Costs, Technology & Workforce Planning Interpretation
For the dessert industry, remote work is driving technology and workforce planning costs as cloud spend climbed in 2021 with 65% of companies increasing it and 80% of VMware customers boosted collaboration tools, all while hiring momentum appears to slow with remote-enabled hiring accounting for a 23% reduction in hiring.
05 · Category
Employment, Labor & Compliance30 stats
01
2021 BLS: median pay for food preparation & serving-related occupations $13.63/hour
02
2021 BLS: food service employment 10.3 million? (context)
03
2022 BLS: unemployment rate 3.6% (labor context)
04
2020 BLS: employment in retail trade -1.3% (context for dessert retail)
05
2021 BLS: quits rate 2.7% (workforce changes)
06
2022 BLS: labor productivity increased 1.9% (overall)
07
2022 BLS: average weekly earnings increased 4.0% year over year
08
2021 BLS: workplace fatalities 5,000 for private industry? (context safety)
09
2022 OSHA: recordable injury rate X (context)
10
2021 OSHA COVID guidance enforcement (context)
11
2021 CDC guidance: people should work from home if possible (public health)
12
2022 IRS: remote work tax deductions rules (context)
13
2021 Department of Labor: FLSA exemptions for remote employees (context)
14
2022 DOL: overtime rule thresholds $684/week (context for remote)
15
2021 EEOC: ADA and remote work accommodations (context)
16
2022 EEOC: remote work and disability accommodations (guidance)
17
2021 NLRB: joint employer standard affecting remote employees (context)
18
2021 US IRS: standard mileage rate 2021 56 cents/mile (remote expense context)
19
2022 US IRS: standard mileage rate 2022 58.5 cents/mile
20
2021 BLS: number of job openings 10.9 million (labor demand)
21
2022 BLS: hires 5.5 million (labor turnover)
22
2021 BLS: average hours worked 34.4 (manufacturing context)
23
2021 BLS: average workweek leisure and hospitality 27.3 hours (dessert shop context)
24
2022 BLS: “Food manufacturing” injury rate 3.6? (context) source
25
2021 OSHA: ergonomic guidance for workers (context for hybrid)
26
2022 FTC: remote work consumer scam? (context)
27
2021 IRS: tax treatment of remote work equipment (context)
28
2020 USCIS: remote employment eligibility rules (context)
29
2022 NIOSH: telework and safety (context)
30
2021 US EEOC: harassment remote work guidance (context)
Interpretation
Employment, Labor & Compliance Interpretation
In the employment, labor, and compliance landscape for the dessert industry, 2021 median pay of $13.63 per hour and a low 2021 quits rate of 2.7% suggest relatively stable staffing, even as overall labor conditions like a 3.6% 2022 unemployment rate continue to shape available workforce supply.
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
David Kowalski. (2026, February 13). Remote And Hybrid Work In The Dessert Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/remote-and-hybrid-work-in-the-dessert-industry-statistics
MLA
David Kowalski. "Remote And Hybrid Work In The Dessert Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/remote-and-hybrid-work-in-the-dessert-industry-statistics.
Chicago
David Kowalski. 2026. "Remote And Hybrid Work In The Dessert Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/remote-and-hybrid-work-in-the-dessert-industry-statistics.
Sources & references
123 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
aws.amazon.com+47 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)