The most important remote work statistics of 2020

The modern workplace incorporates a healthy combination of in-office and remote work.

This balance continues to evolve as workers find new strategies, tools and technology to let them finish projects from a remote location. Because of this recent change, there is some uncertainty. This is to be expected, and stems from all sides – companies, managers, employees, etc.

Due to these common concerns about the efficacy of remote work, and the fact that it’s certainly growing in popularity, it’s important to know some recent stats about it. By learning these statistics, you’ll have a better understanding of the benefits and concerns of remote work.

I’ve broken the statistics into 5 categories that are likely the most necessary to consider in 2020.

1. Who?

Probably the most relevant details involve figuring out who are the groups most likely to work remotely in 2020 and what types of jobs do they typically hold? There are a lot of different industries that have some type of remote work, but the highest tend to be insurance, real estate, information and technical services. The majority demographic working from home is employees over age 40, though this will certainly change dramatically by default.

2. How many?

Due to an ever-changing landscape, finding statistics on how many people working remotely is difficult. However, most analysis put the percentage at 3.7% for 2020. Though this number seems extremely low, keep in mind that this is only the percentage of those who work remote the majority of their week. About 40% of people do at least some amount of remote work.

3. How well?

From an employee financial standpoint, remote work saves them money due to less traveling. Although it’s impossible to give an exact number as everyone’s situation is different, it’s believed that approximately $3,000 to $5,000 dollars are saved every year per employee who works remotely some of the time. As far as the actual work quality, most employees (around ¾) believe remote work increases their work performance. This practice is already familiar to many anyway, such as remote marketing teams.

4. Downsides

There are, of course, some downsides to remote work. There’s less face-to-face interaction, which is the best way to build relationships for most people. Also, the idea that an employee is more productive just because they believe they are can be skewed. They may enjoy the remote lifestyle but overestimate how effective their work efforts are.

5. Future outlook

It has become quite apparent that remote work will be around for a long time. Tech giant Twitter recently said they will allow employees to work remotely from now on. Other large corporations are following suit, or at least moving in that direction. It stands to reason that these remote work statistics will continue to grow and evolve as time goes on.

Due to how important remote work is and how important it appears to continue to be, you’ll need to be well-prepared. Part of this preparedness includes focusing on current statistics and looking for patterns to see how they’ll continue in the future.