Remote work reshapes jobs, tools, and how teams coordinate across roles and countries. In the U.S., adoption varies for both workers and employers, while many preferences shift toward hybrid schedules and clearer guidance. The page also examines what enables collaboration—from documentation and cloud storage to persistent data access—and the tradeoffs, including security risks and wellbeing impacts like stress and trouble disconnecting.
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.
Remote work is here to stay, with many workers wanting it and firms boosting tools despite stress and security risks.
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 Adoption10 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)https://www.bls.gov/news.release/atus.t03.htm
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)https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t04.htm
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)https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2021-08-16-gartner-survey-reveals-remote-work-will-remain-prevalent-post-pandemic
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 releasehttps://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2021-06-02-gartner-future-of-work-remote-work
05
63% of remote workers report using chat tools or messaging “most days,” per Owl Labs’ State of Remote Work reporthttps://www.owlabs.com/state-of-remote-work/
06
54% of employees reported they work better when they can choose where they work, per Microsoft Work Trend Index survey resultshttps://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index
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)https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/remote-work-statistics/
08
49% of employers increased collaboration tool usage during the pandemic (2020) — percent of surveyed employershttps://my.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS46342920
09
48% of surveyed employers say they plan to continue increased collaboration tools post-pandemic (2020) — percent of surveyed employershttps://my.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS46342920
10
44% of surveyed employers report increased document collaboration during the pandemic (2020) — percent of surveyed employershttps://my.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS46342920
Interpretation
Workforce Adoption Interpretation
In the workforce adoption category, only 6.7% of U.S. workers primarily work from home in 2022, but demand and capability are clearly higher, with 50% of employees wanting remote work at least part time and 17.0% of employers already allowing it most of the time.
02 · 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.https://www.owllabs.com/state-of-remote-work/2023/
02
47% of remote teams say documentation is critical to collaboration, according to the 2022 GitLab Remote Work report.https://about.gitlab.com/company/culture/all-remote/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.https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=US46984520
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.https://www.nber.org/papers/w28355
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).https://www.ibm.com/reports/data-breach
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).https://www.iaap-hq.org/resources/state-of-remote-work-2023
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).https://www.conference-board.org/topics/human-capital-mgmt/briefing/future-work
Interpretation
Collaboration & Tools Interpretation
Remote work collaboration is heavily tool driven, with 73% using cloud storage and 74% using tools that enable file sharing and co-authoring, while 68% of employers increased collaboration tool usage during the pandemic and 41% of workers rely on team communication apps daily.
03 · 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.https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2022/06/remote-work
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.https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2023/04/working-with-tech
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).https://www.nsc.org/work-safety/resources/remote-work-survey
Interpretation
Productivity & Wellbeing Interpretation
For the Productivity & Wellbeing angle, the data suggests remote work is a mixed bag as 56% report less commuting stress yet 45% say their stress is higher and 22% struggle to disconnect from work.
More related reading
04 · 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.https://www2.staffingindustry.com/Editorial/Industry-Insights/Workforce-Management/Owl-Labs-State-of-Remote-Work-2024-Report-Summary
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.https://www.worldatwork.org/docs/research/remote-work-guidelines-report.pdf
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.https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat37.htm
Interpretation
Remote Policy & Compliance Interpretation
In 2024, while 54% of employees prefer hybrid over fully remote arrangements, only 38% of organizations had written guidelines for managing work hours in 2022, underscoring why Remote Policy & Compliance must keep pace with the large and growing remote workforce of 1.3 million U.S. employees.
05 · 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)https://www.oecd.org/employment/jobs-and-growth/telework-statistical-evidence.htm
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)https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/college-and-career/remote-working
Interpretation
Remote Work Feasibility Interpretation
Remote Work Feasibility is clearly higher in high-income countries than in low-income ones, and even in the United States where remote work exists, only about 35% of jobs were performed from home in April to May 2020 despite feasibility for some roles.
06 · Category
Overview3 stats
01
39% of breaches involved credential theft in the Verizon 2021 DBIR, which rose as remote access expanded.https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir/
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.https://www.ponemon.org/library
03
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).https://www.jll.com/en/trends/office-2024/office-vacancy-rate
Interpretation
Industry Overview Interpretation
Under the Industry Overview lens, the rise of remote access has coincided with credential theft driving 39% of breaches in Verizon’s 2021 DBIR, while 83% of remote workers rely on persistent collaboration tools that can amplify exposure if security controls lag.
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
26 datasets cited across this report
+4 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)