As we’re all familiar with, the COVID-19 epidemic induced epic changes in culture, economy, and pretty much all facets of life as we knew it. It has been a while since we lived through a plague of such proportions, and the changes it brought still have an impact on today’s world. Of all those changes, one of the many positive but controversial ones that has stuck around is that of hybrid and remote work. Before, it was a privileged few that were able to make a living working from home, but with the advent of Zoom, remote working, and remote learning, now more than 28% of the workforce worldwide is working remotely.[1] That’s over a quarter of all workers who are now plugged into cyberspace. But do employees and businesses agree that remote working is the best option? And how does remote working impact workers? These are the questions I’ll be exploring further in this essay.

Benefits of Remote Work

As a remote worker myself, let me start off with a testimonial as to the positive attributes of working from home. Having the ability to conduct the work you need to do but, in an environment, you control, where you feel safe and can tend to your pets, children, plants, and self—it makes all the difference to one’s mental health and life routine. That isn’t to say it’s without its drawbacks: there are days when I’d love to have a simple interaction with my coworkers and peers in real life, as nothing can compare to moments of real-life connection. But that’s enough about how I feel towards remote work. According to a study conducted by Quantum Workplace, 32% of employees prefer to work fully remotely, 41% prefer a hybrid model, and only 27% want to work full-time on site.[2] It’s clear to employers and employees alike that a preference to work remotely seems to be the former’s prerogative. So much so that in one survey, 52% of men and 60% of women say they would honestly rather quit their current job than return to the office full-time.[3] In the same survey, 69% of men and 80% of women consider remote work to be one of the most important factors when it comes to searching for new employment opportunities. 

You may be wondering why so many employees prefer remote working, and that would be because the benefits for them are many. It reduces burnout greatly, firstly, by allowing employees to work at their own pace while still accomplishing the tasks they must. It creates flexibility, especially for workers with children and robust lives outside of work, or for workers looking for housing that’s more affordable but away from their work locations. Furthermore, it offers more autonomy, as there isn’t someone always watching over your shoulder, and that autonomy further bolsters a worker’s confidence in their ability to do their jobs. It improves work-life balance as it gives you easier access to work and easier access to removing yourself from work. All of these things, remote working does, actually increase productivity among employees. 

Another study of remote workers found that 22% of participants found the biggest advantage of remote working was the ability to better manage their own time. 19% said the biggest advantage was the ability to choose where they live based on preference rather than work location, and 13% cited the freedom to decide where they work.[4] Considering all these benefits, the state of remote working is essential to many employees across industries. Speaking of industries, it’s interesting to see who is working remotely, as in what sectors of business are remote workers thriving. The tech industry (perhaps most intrinsically) has the highest number of remote workers according to one Statistica survey with 67.8%. Agencies and the consulting industry make up the second largest industry at 50.6%, and the finance and insurance industry making up 48.7%.[5]

Roadblocks to Remote Work

Despite the benefits of remote working, the landscape for it is shifting. According to Newsweek, international recruitment consultancy Robert Walters conducted a survey of over 700 companies in which they proclaim that more than ⅔ of professional companies in America said their new job ads will no longer have the option of working fully remotely in 2025.[6] Other headlines have also spelled out a seeming end to hybrid or remote work in the future, the most notable being the executive order sent out in February 2025 that instructs federal workers to make their employees come back to in-person work and end remote work.[7] Other companies are following this “Return to Work” trend. Yet reliable and objective data has shown that these attention-grabbing headlines seem to be nothing more than that—attention grabbing. These narratives are not necessarily representative of broader trends in remote working. Really, many organizations understand employees’ preference towards remote working and are quietly adjusting to this. According to a jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, data reveals a year-over-year increase in the number of employees who work from home, either some of the time or all the time. Specifically, 22.8 percent of workers reported remote working for some or all their job in August 2024, up from 19.5 percent in August 2023. The share of hybrid workers — those who work remotely only some of the time — climbed from 9.2 percent to 11.7 percent over the same period. Those who worked fully remotely increased from 10.3 percent to 11.1 percent.[8] Although certain workers and industries might be affected more than others, the end to remote work for all is certainly not coming soon.

Although certain companies and industries are shifting in their attitudes towards remote work, statistics indicate that it is here to stay. Workers across the world love and embrace it for various reasons, and employers should acknowledge these benefits to embrace retention and satisfaction for their employees. I, for one, am a proponent of it, and hope to see it continue to flourish. 

[1] https://www.statista.com/topics/6565/work-from-home-and-remote-work/#topicOverview

[2] https://www.quantumworkplace.com/future-of-work/remote-work-best-practices

[3] https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/men-women-experience-remote-work-survey

[4] https://buffer.com/state-of-remote-work/2023

[5] https://www.statista.com/statistics/1451594/remote-work-share-by-industry-globally/

[6] https://www.newsweek.com/remote-workers-get-bad-news-1953541

[7] https://www.npr.org/2025/01/20/nx-s1-5268852/trump-telework-executive-order-federal-workers

[8] https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf

Photo by Chris Montgomery free to use under the Unsplash License.