About 1.3 million employees worked remotely in the US in the first quarter of 2024. This article presents the latest data on workforce adoption, collaboration tools, and the wellbeing impacts of this shift.
Key Takeaways
- 6.7% of U.S. workers worked primarily from home in 2022 (ATUS reported share of workers whose main work location was at home)
- 17.0% of U.S. employers reported that employees were allowed to work from home most of the time in 2022 (share of employers per BLS table)
- 50% of employees report they would like to work remotely at least part of the time, from a Gartner survey of knowledge workers (reported in Gartner media coverage citing survey results)
- The OECD reports that telework is more feasible in high-income countries than in low-income countries; OECD provides country figures by task compatibility (OECD telework evidence)
- In the US, the Federal Reserve reported that during April–May 2020, only about 35% of jobs were actually performed from home even if feasibility was higher; demonstrates gap between potential and realized telework (NY Fed / Fed analysis)
- 73% of remote workers reported using cloud storage tools (e.g., Google Drive/Dropbox/SharePoint) as part of their work, per the 2023 State of Remote Work report.
- 47% of remote teams say documentation is critical to collaboration, according to the 2022 GitLab Remote Work report.
- 68% of employers reported that they increased usage of collaboration tools during the pandemic, based on a 2020 survey by the International Data Corporation (IDC) summarized by a reputable trade publication.
- Remote work reduced office real-estate demand pressure such that the U.S. office vacancy rate increased by about 3.6 percentage points between Q4 2019 and Q4 2023 (JLL market data).
- 39% of breaches involved credential theft in the Verizon 2021 DBIR, which rose as remote access expanded.
- 83% of remote workers used at least one collaboration tool that creates persistent data accessible to other team members, per a 2022 report by the Ponemon Institute on remote collaboration and privacy.
- 45% of remote workers reported higher stress levels compared with before remote work in 2022, per a survey reported by the American Psychological Association (APA) monitoring remote work wellbeing impacts.
- 22% of U.S. remote workers reported difficulty disconnecting from work in 2023, based on a survey result published by the American Psychological Association (APA) in its monitoring of technology and work boundaries.
- 56% of workers reported that remote work reduces commuting-related stress, according to a 2024 survey report by the National Safety Council (work-from-home stress/commute impacts).
- 54% of surveyed employees said they prefer hybrid work arrangements over fully remote work in 2024, per a survey conducted by Owl Labs (State of Remote Work), as cited by Staffing Industry Analysts.
Most Americans want remote work, but only a fraction do it and most organizations ramp up collaboration and security.
Related reading
- Remote And Hybrid Work In IndustryRemote Working Statistics
- Remote And Hybrid Work In IndustryRemote And Hybrid Work In The Life Sciences Industry Statistics
- Remote And Hybrid Work In IndustryRemote And Hybrid Work In The Big Data Industry Statistics
- Remote And Hybrid Work In IndustryWork From Home Productivity Statistics
01 · Category
Workforce Adoption7 stats
01
6.7% of U.S. workers worked primarily from home in 2022 (ATUS reported share of workers whose main work location was at home)
02
17.0% of U.S. employers reported that employees were allowed to work from home most of the time in 2022 (share of employers per BLS table)
03
50% of employees report they would like to work remotely at least part of the time, from a Gartner survey of knowledge workers (reported in Gartner media coverage citing survey results)
04
35% of employers planned to allow remote work at least two days per week, as reported in Gartner’s return-to-work planning survey media release
05
63% of remote workers report using chat tools or messaging “most days,” per Owl Labs’ State of Remote Work report
06
54% of employees reported they work better when they can choose where they work, per Microsoft Work Trend Index survey results
07
52% of organizations allow employees to work remotely “some of the time,” while 21% allow it “often” (FlexJobs remote work survey summary, derived from primary employer survey)
Interpretation
Workforce Adoption Interpretation
Despite only 6.7% of U.S. workers primarily working from home in 2022, workforce adoption is clearly accelerating, with 52% of organizations allowing remote work some of the time and 21% allowing it often.
02 · Category
Remote Work Feasibility2 stats
01
The OECD reports that telework is more feasible in high-income countries than in low-income countries; OECD provides country figures by task compatibility (OECD telework evidence)
02
In the US, the Federal Reserve reported that during April–May 2020, only about 35% of jobs were actually performed from home even if feasibility was higher; demonstrates gap between potential and realized telework (NY Fed / Fed analysis)
Interpretation
Remote Work Feasibility Interpretation
For the Remote Work Feasibility angle, the OECD shows telework is generally more compatible in high income countries than in low income ones, and the US example reinforces the gap by showing that even when feasibility was higher in April to May 2020 only about 35% of jobs were actually performed from home.
03 · Category
Collaboration & Tools7 stats
01
73% of remote workers reported using cloud storage tools (e.g., Google Drive/Dropbox/SharePoint) as part of their work, per the 2023 State of Remote Work report.
02
47% of remote teams say documentation is critical to collaboration, according to the 2022 GitLab Remote Work report.
03
68% of employers reported that they increased usage of collaboration tools during the pandemic, based on a 2020 survey by the International Data Corporation (IDC) summarized by a reputable trade publication.
04
41% of remote workers reported they use team communication apps daily (excluding email), per a 2021 report by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) on remote work technology usage patterns.
05
91% of organizations have implemented or are planning to implement security controls for remote/hybrid work by 2024, per the IBM Security “Cost of a Data Breach Report 2024” remote work security findings (share of respondents).
06
74% of remote/hybrid employees use collaboration tools that support file sharing and document co-authoring, per the 2023 State of Remote Work report statistics compiled in a summary published by the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP) (tool usage prevalence).
07
63% of knowledge workers reported using video meetings “at least some days per week” in 2023, per a report summary by The Conference Board’s “Future of Work” research brief (video meeting usage frequency).
Interpretation
Collaboration & Tools Interpretation
Across the Collaboration & Tools category, remote work increasingly depends on cloud and communication platforms, with 73% using cloud storage, 41% using team chat daily, and 68% of employers boosting collaboration tool usage during the pandemic.
04 · Category
Cost & Impact1 stats
01
Remote work reduced office real-estate demand pressure such that the U.S. office vacancy rate increased by about 3.6 percentage points between Q4 2019 and Q4 2023 (JLL market data).
Interpretation
Cost & Impact Interpretation
Under the Cost & Impact lens, remote work likely eased office space demand enough to lift the US office vacancy rate by about 3.6 percentage points from Q4 2019 to Q4 2023, signaling clear cost pressure on traditional real estate.
More related reading
05 · Category
Technology & Security2 stats
01
39% of breaches involved credential theft in the Verizon 2021 DBIR, which rose as remote access expanded.
02
83% of remote workers used at least one collaboration tool that creates persistent data accessible to other team members, per a 2022 report by the Ponemon Institute on remote collaboration and privacy.
Interpretation
Technology & Security Interpretation
As remote work expands, Verizon’s 2021 DBIR shows credential theft jumped to 39% of breaches, and with 83% of remote workers using persistent collaboration tools that other team members can access, technology and security risks increasingly hinge on protecting access and data across shared systems.
06 · Category
Productivity & Wellbeing3 stats
01
45% of remote workers reported higher stress levels compared with before remote work in 2022, per a survey reported by the American Psychological Association (APA) monitoring remote work wellbeing impacts.
02
22% of U.S. remote workers reported difficulty disconnecting from work in 2023, based on a survey result published by the American Psychological Association (APA) in its monitoring of technology and work boundaries.
03
56% of workers reported that remote work reduces commuting-related stress, according to a 2024 survey report by the National Safety Council (work-from-home stress/commute impacts).
Interpretation
Productivity & Wellbeing Interpretation
For the Productivity and Wellbeing angle, the data suggests remote work can ease some burdens while still leaving mental strain unresolved, with 56% reporting less commuting-related stress but 45% seeing higher stress levels and 22% struggling to disconnect in 2023.
07 · Category
Remote Policy & Compliance3 stats
01
54% of surveyed employees said they prefer hybrid work arrangements over fully remote work in 2024, per a survey conducted by Owl Labs (State of Remote Work), as cited by Staffing Industry Analysts.
02
38% of organizations reported having written guidelines for managing employees’ working hours in 2022, per a 2022 workplace survey by WorldatWork on remote/hybrid practices.
03
1.3 million: number of employees in the U.S. working remotely (as a point estimate) in the first quarter of 2024, estimated from CPS microdata by Zippia’s analysis; this estimate is based on publicly available BLS CPS figures.
Interpretation
Remote Policy & Compliance Interpretation
As organizations tighten Remote Policy & Compliance, the shift toward workable arrangements is clear, with 54% of employees preferring hybrid over fully remote in 2024 and only 38% of organizations reporting written guidelines for managing working hours in 2022, even as about 1.3 million U.S. employees work remotely in the first quarter of 2024.
report visual · Comparison
Remote work access & usage—snapshot
Across employees, employers, and remote-work tools, the share using remote work or remote-friendly policies ranges from 6.7% of workers working primarily from home to 91% of organizations implementing or planning remote/hybrid security controls.
Organizations implementing/planning remote/hybrid security controls by 202491%
Employees who want to work remotely at least part of the time50%
Employers allowing work from home most of the time (2022)17%
Workers working primarily from home (2022)6.7%
source-verifiedbls.gov · gartner.com · ibm.com2024
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
Nathan Caldwell. (2026, February 13). Remote Workforce Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/remote-workforce-statistics
MLA
Nathan Caldwell. "Remote Workforce Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/remote-workforce-statistics.
Chicago
Nathan Caldwell. 2026. "Remote Workforce Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/remote-workforce-statistics.
Sources & references
25 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+4 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)