Remote Work Statistics 2026: Trends and Factors

As remote work continues to reshape the professional world, understanding the latest data can provide valuable insights into the future direction of the workforce. 

However, we must dig deeper to answer questions such as “What is the future of remote work in 2026?” and “Is remote work increasing or decreasing?”  

After all, remote work is no longer a mere experiment brought on by COVID-19, but an established work model for millions of employees globally. 

We’ll examine the most relevant remote work statistics and the percentage of remote workers in 2026 to see how they relate to emerging working-from-home trends. Finally, we’ll reflect on the opinions of both remote workers and employers to see whether their expectations for remote work in 2026 align. 

• Throughout 2025, 75% of employees engaged in some form of remote work for at least part of the year. 
• Flexibility is on the rise — notably, 40% of workers would seek out other job opportunities if required to return to the office full-time. 
• Hybrid creep, a phenomenon referring to employers steadily introducing more on-site stipulations, was prevalent throughout 2024 and 2025. And employees are feeling the pressure, with 30% of remote and hybrid workers feeling that working from home lowers their chances for professional growth.  
• Remote and hybrid employees credit flexible work arrangements with improving their work-life balance (67%), boosting overall satisfaction (54%), and enhancing wellbeing (44%). 
• Polyworking was also a relevant remote work trend throughout 2025, as 28% of employees admitted to having additional jobs or side hustles. 
• On the whole, managers view remote work positively, with 69% stating it has made their teams more productive. 
• With hybrid and remote work redefining the way we organize work, 93% of executives emphasize that the right technology is essential for business success.  

Statistics that answer the question: “Why remote work?” 

Buffer’s ”State of Remote Work” report revealed that 68% of people consider remote work a positive experience. It’s encouraging that no one said that remote work was or is a negative experience for them. 

What’s more, according to the same report, 98% of respondents said they would:

• Work remotely (at least part of the time) for the rest of their careers and
• Recommend remote work to coworkers, friends, and family.

According to an Owl Labs report — ”State of Hybrid Work 2023” — 66% of respondents said working from home should be a legal right. In their US-based survey, Owl Labs also found that 29% of hybrid and remote workers would expect a pay rise if forced to return to the office full-time.

But why do people want to work from home? 

The ”State of Hybrid Work 2025” report continued to explore remote work trends, finding that employees place the greatest value on flexibility regarding when and where they work. Specifically, the latest numbers indicate that 41% of employees achieve a better work-life balance when working from home.

Now that we’ve covered the initial figures, let’s take a deeper look at the remote work statistics for 2026.

#1: Remote work is a choice

The 2025 research from The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) regarding hybrid and remote work practices reveals that for many companies, remote work is a common choice. Namely, 91% of organizations operating in the UK offer some type of flexible arrangement, with:

• 51% supporting full-time remote work or on an ad hoc basis, while
• 55% provide part-time hours. 

According to a remote work survey from the Pew Research Center,​​ 75% of employed adults worked from home at least some part of 2025. 

That’s not that surprising, given that in 2024, hybrid work was on the rise, as 62% of US companies offered flexible work hours, driving the increase of hybrid workers. 

Moreover, many people prefer working from home — so much so that Owl Labs found that if hybrid and remote workers were to lose their flexible arrangements:

• 40% would begin searching for a new job with the desired flexibility, 
• 22% would anticipate to see a salary increase, and
• 5% would outright quit. 

Going back further to 2024, Owl Labs’ report on hybrid work revealed that 1 in 3 workers (31%) said they would start looking for a new job, while 6% said they would quit if their employer eliminated the flexibility to work remotely.  

Earlier data from the ”State of Remote Work 2022” report revealed that interest in remote and hybrid work rose by 24% and 16%, respectively, compared to findings from previous years. Conversely, interest in in-office work dropped by 24%. 

The preference for WFH positions persists today. Although companies tightened their in-office requirements throughout 2025 — a phenomenon dubbed “hybrid creep” — employees still prefer remote and hybrid arrangements over being in the office full-time. 

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#2: Remote work contributes to happiness 

One of the emerging remote work trends in 2026 is the array of advantages employees associate with remote and hybrid work. In the 2025 research from CIPD, respondents highlighted the following benefits:

• Improved work-life balance (67%),
• Increased employee satisfaction (54%),
• Higher employee retention rates (45%), and
• Better employee wellbeing (44%). 

In the “State of Hybrid Work 2024” report by Owl Labs, employees reported that hybrid work affected their happiness in the following ways: 

• 84% ate healthier food when working at home and
• 51% achieved a better work-life balance.  

In fact, 71% of respondents agreed that flexible working hours contribute to a healthy work-life balance, which is integral to their happiness (at work or otherwise). What’s more, 25% of them would be willing to take a 15% pay cut to get more flexible working hours.

According to an earlier Buffer’s report, remote and hybrid workers preferred their work models because they allowed them to:

• Have a flexible schedule — 22%,
• Choose how they spend their time — 19%, and
• Choose their work location — 13%.

#3: Highly educated employees with higher incomes choose remote work more often

The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics telework report from 2025 shows a clear correlation between education levels and remote work adoption rates among US employees. 

As the Pew Research Center reported in 2023, highly educated employees earning higher salaries are more likely to say they can work from home.

Further reporting supports these figures. 

Findings by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis showed that remote work was more prevalent in 2024 compared to pre-pandemic years, particularly among higher-educated and higher-paid workers. This apparent “education gap” highlights the fact that remote work is most accessible to employees who hold bachelor’s or advanced degrees. 

Statistics showing where remote employees work from

What does working from home really look like? 

Buffer’s findings show that post-pandemic, 82% of remote workers choose their homes as their primary work location. 

Only 5% stated they work from coworking spaces, while 2% preferred to work in coffee shops or other locations. 

But, while most remote employees worked from the comfort of their homes, some decided to relocate.

A US Census Bureau report shows that, in 2024, approximately 40% of remote workers took advantage of flexible work to move from high-cost urban centers to more affordable regions. 

Buffer’s “State of Remote Work” report from 2023 stated that 60% of remote workers preferred the remote work model because it allows them to choose where they live. 

In 2021, at the peak of remote work, the numbers were even higher — about 78% of Owl Labs’ “State of Remote Work 2021” study participants stated that they moved away from an urban location due to remote work.

Statistics showing the overall impact of remote work

The hybrid work indicator by Gallup tracks and analyzes the experiences of remote, hybrid, and on-site employees. The 2025 insights indicate that when working from home:

• 64% of employees use their time more efficiently, while 
• 61% experience less fatigue or burnout.

But are remote workers more productive than in-office counterparts?Here’s what we can learn from employee productivity statistics.

Owl Labs’ data for 2025 shows that productivity is still intact. Around 70% of managers said that remote or hybrid work makes their teams more productive, while only 12% said it makes them less productive.

However, there seems to have been a mismatch between men and women in previous years. 

According to data cited in FlexJobs’ survey from 2021, 80% of female respondents considered remote work one of the most important factors when looking for a new job, compared to 52% of men. 

However, these numbers seem to have stabilized, at least when it comes to college-educated women and men working from home in 2025. According to WFH data from SIEPR (Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research), the number of men and women working remotely remains nearly equal across all regions of the world. 

Let’s go into greater detail and examine the impact of remote work in 2026 across:

• Genders,
• Generations,
• Industries, and
• Countries.

Statistics showing the impact of remote work across genders 

As we’ve mentioned, there has been a significant discrepancy between the genders when it comes to the desire (or lack thereof) to return to the office.

During the initial surge of RTO mandates in 2023, men were more likely to hustle back into offices than women, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics report. 

However, in 2024, we saw slightly more male employees working from home — 49.6% compared to 46.4% of female remote workers, as the US Career Institute reports. 

Whether men and women were in the office or at home in 2025 depended on whether they had children. According to findings from SIEPR, parents with children were more likely to be working following a hybrid work schedule with 1–3 days of at-home work per week. 

Let’s look at some differences between genders regarding remote work.

Women are still more likely to work from home

Despite the varying statistics, women still predominantly prefer working from home. 

This desire to work remotely is even more intense for women with children. SIEPR found that, on average, women with children wanted to work from home 2.66 days a week. For women without children, that number fell to 2.53. 

In contrast, the work-from-home preferences of men with children and those without are much more aligned. Even so, men with children do show a slightly higher preference for remote work than their peers without children.

During 2025, parenthood continued to influence remote work preferences — 49% of women (compared to 43% of men) reported they’d be likely to leave their jobs if the option to work from home was no longer available. 

The McKinsey report ”Women in the Workplace 2024” shows that 9 out of 10 women gravitated towards remote work.

This is consistent with Owl Labs’ report from 2022, which shows that the inclination of women to work from home was much higher than that of men. 

Even in 2019, women accounted for 56% of all home-based workers, ILO reported in their ”Working from home” report. 

But why do women have a greater tendency to work from home?

In addition to being employees, most women across the globe are also homemakers and caregivers. 

By working from home, they can combine their many care responsibilities with paid work, even if it means working longer hours.

Research on gender inequality in unpaid work, done by CAKE.com, showed that women spend more time than men on unpaid domestic work, specifically:

• Child care — women spent 39.45% of their time caring for children, and men spent 33.37% on that activity.
• Meal preparation — women spent 31.9% of their time on this chore, compared to 17.4% of the time men spent.
• House cleaning — women cleaned for 22.65% of their time, while men devoted 18.2% of their time to this chore.
• Laundry — 7.79% of women’s time was devoted to this chore, while men didn’t report laundry as a chore in this survey. 

According​​ to this report, women do 58% of unpaid labor, while men do 42%. 

Women handle work-life balance better than men

Let’s explore what benefits women and men can enjoy when working from home. 

According to Pew Research Center findings, working from home makes it equally easy for men and women to balance work and personal life. 

Yet, women seem to handle working from home better than men when it comes to:

• Getting work done, 
• Meeting deadlines, and 
• Advancing their careers. 

Also, as the McKinsey report highlights, women report experiencing fewer microaggressions when working remotely.

Men are more likely to work 10+ additional hours a week when working remotely 

Putting in more hours seems to be reserved for men, the Owl Labs 2024 report revealed. They were 41% more likely to work 10+ additional hours per week. 

Additionally, Owl Labs found that in 2025, men were more likely to relocate for a flexible work location. While 59% of women would sacrifice their pay for a more flexible arrangement, 66% men stated they would do the same. 

In contrast, women report working the same hours as they did when working in the office.

However, data shows that gendered differences persist and that women focus more on family tasks. For example, a 2022 Ohio State University study examining dual-earner couples underscores that women who work remotely are more likely to feel the need to complete more chores than their partners. 

These blurred lines between work and life may sometimes lead to burnout and a sense of guilt. 

Women report being more productive in remote settings

A 2024 US Bureau of Labor Statistics report revealed an overall positive correlation between remote work and productivity increase across 61 industries.

Yet, women reported being slightly more productive than men, a 2021 SHRM study shows. 

For example, 40% of women said they are more productive in a remote work environment, while only 35% of men felt the same way.

However, data from a 2023 study titled “Virtuality at Work: A Double-Edged Sword for Women’s Career Equality?”warns that while flexible and remote work allows women to manage non-work demands, they might also reduce women’s opportunities in the workplace, primarily regarding countering social stereotypes. 

Statistics showing the impact of remote work across generations 

There are currently 5 generations making up the global workforce: 

• Traditionalist (1928–1945),
• Baby Boomer (1946–1964),
• Generation X (1965–1980),
• Millennial (1981–1994), and
• Generation Z (1995—2010).

Today’s workforce mainly consists of Millennials and Gen Zs, whose diverse, people-oriented, and socially responsible worldviews challenge companies to reevaluate their business practices.

Millennials now comprise about 36% of the US workforce, making them the largest demographic in the workforce. 

In 2024, the US work market counted 50 million Gen Z employees, CAKE.com reports in their 2024 Gen Z Effect report. 

Moreover, 2024 marked the year that Gen Z overtook Baby Boomers in the work market. 

But how has remote work impacted these two (and other) generations? 

Most Gen Z and Millennials used to want a hybrid or on-site work arrangement 

In Deloitte’s 2023 survey, 77% of Gen Zs and 75% of Millennials said they would start looking for a new job if their company required them to return to the office full time. 

However, their 2024 survey edition exposed some changes on that front. Namely, 64% of Gen Z and 66% of Millennials stated they work in companies that recently mandated a return to the office. 

Most workers now work fully on-site across both generations — but have mixed feelings about it, nonetheless. 

Overall, both Millennials and Gen Z workers cite more positive effects of the RTO policy. 

Specifically, 28% of Millennials and 26% of Gen Z workers feel more engaged with their organizations and coworkers when working on-site, and almost the same amount of respondents (27% and 25%, respectively) reported having better routines and structure at work.

The negative impact of on-site work included the financial side (for 17% of Millennials and 21% of Gen Z) and decreased productivity (for 17% of Millennials and 18% of Gen Z respondents).  

The ”2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey” from Deloitte notes that most Gen Z employees began their careers during the COVID-19 pandemic. These circumstances may have shaped their views on work-life balance, influencing which aspects they most appreciate in a job.  

More than half of Millennials and Gen Zs are considering a job change 

For Millennials and Gen Zs, job changes aren’t uncommon. These generations know what they want in an employer and aren’t afraid to keep looking until they find a perfect match.

In 2024, over 90% of Gen Zs and Millennials were expected to give a positive answer to whether they were considering looking for a new job. This was a huge spike compared to previous years.  

According to Microsoft’s report titled ”Great Expectations: Making Hybrid Work Work”, 52% of Gen Z and Millennials changed jobs in 2023. These numbers were the same in 2022. 

Interestingly, the prevalence of artificial intelligence (AI) is changing what types of jobs Gen Z and Millennials look for, according to Deloitte’s 2025 survey. Around 66% of Gen Zs and 68% of Millennials stated they would search for jobs safe from AI-powered disruption — like trades or manual labor, for example. 

Both Millennials and Gen Z are okay with leaving their current jobs 

With both generations taking up a majority of the workforce, there has been a more positive shift toward career fluidity. 

According to Deloitte’s insights from 2025, approximately 31% of Gen Z workers intend to change their jobs in the following two years. As Millennials are further along in their career trajectories, only 17% plan to switch employers in two years’ time. 

When we look 5 years ahead, the numbers are even higher. According to a 2024 Deloitte report, more than half of Gen Z respondents (53%) and 49% of Millennials don’t plan on staying at their current job for longer than 5 years. 

In their 2023 survey, Deloitte reported that nearly a quarter of Gen Zs (23%) and 13% of Millennials planned to leave their jobs within the year.

Things have stayed consistent with Deloitte’s 2022 survey, which discovered that 40% of Gen Zs and almost 24% of Millennials would like to leave their jobs within two years. 

Flexibility and pay are the main reasons for job-hopping among Millennials and Gen Z

In their report, Deloitte found that pay is the main reason Millennials and Gen Zs left a role in the last two years.

Moreover, research on job-hopping reveals that the average tenure for Gen Z workers in the first 5 years of their professional career is approximately one year. By comparison, for Millennials and Gen X employees, the average is 1.8 and 2.8 years, respectively. 

According to a 2024 survey from Qureos, Gen Z and Millennials cited the following motivators to stay in a company:

• Impact on society — 93%,
• Work-life balance — 77%,
• Diversity and inclusion — 77%,
• Health insurance — 70%, and
• Competitive salary — 63%.

These findings suggest that Gen Zs and Millennials would much rather have a better work-life balance (achieved through remote and hybrid work) than a higher paycheck. 

Millennials and Gen Z are likely to earn more money through side jobs and businesses 

According to Intuit’s 2024 survey, nearly two-thirds (66%) of Millennials and Gen Zs have started or planned to start a side hustle in late 2024. Moreover, 65% planned to continue their business endeavors through 2025. 

Surprisingly, Owl Labs’ “State of Hybrid Work” report for 2023 showed that 68%​​ of people with another job, side business, or project were actually in-office workers. Only 27% were remote or hybrid workers. 

The “State of Hybrid Work” report for 2025 reveals that polyworking continues to be a feature of the modern workforce, with 28% of employees having side hustles or additional jobs.

Millennials and Gen Z appreciate the benefits of both remote and on-site work 

For Millennials and Gen Z, the benefits of remote work used to vary. 

In their 2023 survey, Deloitte discovered the 4 most common benefits for Gen Z and Millennial employees working remotely:

1. Better work-life balance, 
2. Saving money, 
3. Better productivity, and 
4. Positive impact on mental health. 

However, a 2024 research paper exploring Gen Z’s desire for hybrid work shows a shift toward more on-site work for Gen Z employees. Namely, Gen Z workers largely report benefits connected to on-site work, which include: 

• Amenities and infrastructure,
• Visibility and social engagement, and
• Better routine and structure at work. 

At the same time, Gen Z employees are reevaluating the challenges of remote working more attentively, according to Gallup’s findings from 2025. 

The lack of meaningful, face-to-face interactions is a notable factor deterring Gen Z from working fully remotely, most likely because Gen Z is the loneliest across all 5 generations present in the workforce, as Gallup notes. 

Statistics showing the impact of remote work across industries 

What industries offer the most opportunities for remote work?

What industries are the least likely to operate remotely? 

Let’s look at remote work statistics across different industries. 

Software and IT industries are the most likely to embrace remote work 

The Remote Work Index by FlexJobs indicates that, in the final quarter of 2025, the most remote-friendly career fields were:

• Project management,
• Computer and IT,
• Sales,
• Client services, and
• Medical and health. 

Data from Robert Half, a US-based staffing and HR consulting firm, backs these findings, showing that the tech sector was among the top industries offering either fully remote or hybrid work at the end of 2025. Specifically, the professional fields with the most flexible job opportunities were:

• Marketing, 
• Technology,
• Legal,
• Finance and consulting, and
• Human resources. 

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For some industries and occupations, remote work isn’t an option 

The ”UK Job Market Report” from Adzuna reveals that, in 2025, remote job postings fell to their lowest levels since 2020. In contrast, on-site vacancies have been steadily increasing. 

This insight makes sense to an extent — not all professional fields can afford to implement remote work. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the occupations and industries that cannot operate in a remote setting include:

• Protective service, 
• Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance,
• Personal care and service, 
• Construction and extraction, and
• Farming, fishing, and forestry.

Similarly, the Flex Report shows that the top 5 industries requiring full-time in-office work in 2025 were: 

• Transportation and automotive — 55%,
• Hospitality — 53%,
• Education — 50%,
• Restaurants and food services — 49%, and 
• Government — 46%. 

Statistics showing the impact of remote work across countries 

Remote work, teleworking, or “work from anywhere” looks different from country to country. Let’s take a detailed look to find out:

• Which countries are best for remote workers in 2026?
• Which parts of the world are the most attractive to digital nomads?
• Which countries are still not fully embracing remote work?

Denmark is ranked the best country for remote workers

In their ”Global Remote Work Index” report, NordLayer listed the best countries to work remotely from. 

They ranked the countries based on 4 different categories:

1. Cyber security, 
2. Economic safety, 
3. Digital and physical infrastructure, and 
4. Social safety. 

Denmark is first on the list, scoring high in all 4 categories, and is closely followed by another 9 European countries. The US and Canada are 16th and 14th on the list, respectively.

Croatia is the best for digital nomads

Meanwhile, other reports, such as Pumble’s Digital Nomad Statistics, show what different countries with digital nomad visas offer regarding working conditions and the opportunities for exploring outside the usual 9–5 routine.

According to Pumble’s findings, Croatia was first on the list of countries most liked by digital nomads in 2024, closely followed by:

• Greece, 
• South Korea, 
• Malaysia, and 
• Japan. 

The ”Global Digital Nomad Report 2025” from Global Citizens Solutions notes that many countries in Europe stand out due to their structured digital nomad frameworks. This approach makes countries such as Spain, Croatia, Malta, and Portugal highly appealing for long-term relocation. 

Some countries have remote work regulations in place 

When the pandemic forced many to work from home, it highlighted the challenges of remote work. 

As a result, some countries have updated their labor laws to regulate remote work. Although some countries already have remote work laws, certain regulations have never been implemented.

Recent changes to remote work legislation include:

• Requiring written agreements for remote work,
• Obligating employers to provide workers with the necessary equipment and cover related costs like the Internet, and
• Prohibiting employers from discriminating against workers based on gender, age, professional group, disability, or seniority. 

In 2025, more countries, such as Costa Rica, Austria, Oman, and Columbia, have joined in enacting telework regulations.

France continues to resist remote work 

Although remote work has changed the ways companies organize their workforce, in France, telework remains an uncommon practice. In 2024:

• Less than 3% of private sector employees worked remotely,
• 26% followed a hybrid arrangement, and
• 78% worked on-site full-time.

If we compare these numbers to those in more remote-friendly countries such as the US, the resistance is clear. By the end of 2024:

• 13% of US employees were fully remote,
• 61% worked on-site, and
• 26% were hybrid workers.

This Bloomberg survey from November 2023 found that, in general, the French offer less flexibility to their workers. In Paris, the economic capital of France, only 7% of responders said that they have fully remote jobs.

On the whole, remote work arrangements remain more common in Europe and North America, reveals a comprehensive 2025 WFH research study. The study also confirms what the above figures suggest — across Asia, remote work remains limited. For example, while Japan adopted telework during the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2026, on-site work remains the norm. 

Canada, US, and UK companies are more likely to allow employees to work entirely remotely 

Data from WFH found that English-speaking countries are more likely to allow employees to work from home. 

In countries like the US, Ireland, and Canada, employees typically spend 1.5–1.9 days working from home per week. 

For workers in South America and Asia, the numbers are lower. 

Statistics showing the most common remote work structure

Based on the time employees spend working remotely, we can make a distinction between the following work structures: 

• Fully remote, 
• Remote-first, 
• Hybrid and flexible hybrid,
• Office occasional,
• Office-first, remote allowed, and
• Fully on-site. 

With so many diverse choices available, what have companies implemented so far? More importantly, what are their plans for the future? 

Fully remote work is on a steady decline 

If we compare numbers from 2022 to 2025, we’ll see that they have changed dramatically. Owl Labs’ reports for these years show a steady decline in fully remote work and an increase in in-office work. 

As a result, hybrid and in-office work saw a steady rise throughout 2025, while remote structures took a slight drop. 

Take a look at the numbers below.

A 2025 report from Project.co showed similar numbers. Namely, 36% of respondents said they were in the office 5 days a week, while only 20% worked fully remotely. Meanwhile, the majority (44%) had a hybrid work pattern.

The number of fully remote companies is stabilizing 

The”Global Virtual Teams Survey Report 2022”, conducted by CultureWizard, looked into remote work trends and found that about 89% of companies functioned as: 

• Fully remote, 
• Remote-first, or 
• Remote-friendly companies.

Today, things are different. 

Although many companies are pushing for a return to the office, the Flex Index Report states that between the start of 2023 and the end of November 2023, the number of companies offering hybrid work models increased from 51% to 62%. 

The numbers for 2025 were promising — 66% of companies offered location flexibility, while only 34% required full-time in-office work. 

The structured hybrid model is on the rise

Many hoped that 2023 would bring a full return to the office. Instead, it was the year structured hybrid work was fully established. 

According to the 2024 “Flex Index Report”, the structured hybrid work model rose by 23% compared to 2023. 

This model requires employees to work in the office for a specific number of days (or amount of time). Remote work statistics from Owl Labs’ Reports for 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 suggest that many companies prefer a hybrid schedule over operating an entirely remote workforce. 

So, the desire for remote or hybrid work remains steady, but companies seem reluctant to fulfill it. 

As you can see in the table below, the number of remote and hybrid workers kept decreasing until 2024. Then another dip happened for remote work, though the hybrid model is on a slow but steady rise. 

Statistics showing the most preferred remote work structure

Buffer’s “State of Remote Work Report 2023” states that about 91% of remote employees would like to keep working in a remote setting — fully remote (71%) or remote-first (20%). 

As few as 1% would like to go back to the office. 

Furthermore, according to Owl Labs’ report for 2025, remote and flexible work were among the top factors influencing the professional lives of employees, with:

• 83% of employees mentioning flexible hours,
• 82% citing flexibility in terms of work days, while
• 79% highlighting flexibility regarding location. 

Yet, employees and companies have diverging preferences regarding remote work.

Let’s explore that in more depth in the lines below.

Employers and employees aren’t completely on the same page about remote work

As shown by the 2022 and 2023 Owl Labs reports, most remote workers wanted to keep working from home post-pandemic. 

What’s more, their interest in remote and hybrid work remained steady throughout 2021–2023, as you can see from the table below.

In 2025, Pew Research Center found that among workers who rarely or never work from home: 

• 63% would work from home most or some of the time, 
• 19% would choose to work from home all the time, and 
• 17% would rarely or never work from home. 

However, the data also shows that, while employees are less interested in full-time office positions, companies are less keen to go fully remote. As a result, the hybrid model is the only area where employees and employers come close to reaching common ground. 

Employers mostly lean toward hybrid work models

Although return to office mandates have been a major topic of conversation the past few years, not much seems to have changed in 2025. In fact, 73% of employees surveyed by Owl Labs stated that there’s been no change in their companies’ remote and hybrid work policies. 

That’s not surprising, given that, as the “2024 State of Hybrid Work” report suggests, employers were actively making efforts to better support hybrid work. The study respondents reported that, during 2024:

• 50% of employers have trained managers on how to manage their remote/hybrid teams, 
• 49% have trained employees on how to hold effective and inclusive hybrid meetings, and 
• 47% have trained employees to use mixed real-time and asynchronous methods of communication.  

In the 2023 edition of the report, we first witnessed employers’ willingness to compromise on a hybrid work model. Workers noticed that employers were attempting to make this compromise more appealing, as: 

• 63% of respondents attended training for hybrid meetings, and 
• 62% said their managers had undergone training on managing distributed teams.

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Most employees also prefer hybrid work

It seems that hybrid work is here to stay. 

The Pew Research Center study shows that this trend was strong in 2025. Namely, 72% of hybrid employees — working from home most or some of the time — preferred a hybrid arrangement. In comparison, only 24% said they’d work from home all the time. 

This is consistent with PwC’s future of work survey in 2021, which found that more than half of employees would prefer a remote or hybrid work arrangement. Only 21% said that the nature of their work doesn’t allow for remote work.

Statistics showing how companies support remote work 

When the pandemic started, handling a remote team was a novelty for many managers and leaders, so they had to learn on the go. 

WorkTango’s ”2022 Workplace Report” revealed that​​ about 45% of companies implemented flexible scheduling and remote work options. 

The goal was to nurture employee and manager well-being and prevent burnout.

Buffer’s report for 2023 also recorded several ways companies facilitate remote work.

About 93% of employees said their organization trusts them to work remotely. Moreover, 75% of remote workers said their companies help them connect with colleagues at work.

The general sentiment is clear — remote and hybrid work policies yield good results in well-connected workplaces that prioritize trust. Here’s how well companies are doing on that front in 2026. 

#1: Some companies offer flexible working hours

For some companies, maintaining a flexible working environment is one way to support their remote workers. 

In 2023, 71% of workers in Buffer’s survey stated that their company permits them to work remotely in some capacity. 

The report also revealed that 63% of employees said their companies offer flexible work, while 30% said their companies don’t do this — but the employees wished they would. 

More employers have realized that flexible approaches could result in better outcomes. This comes just in time, as respondents in Own Labs 2024 survey stated that 6% would quit if their employer revoked their hybrid policies, while 31% would start looking for other jobs.

Yet, WTW’s flexible work model survey suggests that the flexible trend may be shifting. It reveals that as many as 61% of US companies have implemented a formal policy mandating a minimum number of days a week in the office. 

In 2026, this remote work trend — if we can call it that — continues, and we’re seeing more organizations adopt flexible work within their hybrid work policy. 

According to the ”Flex Report” for Q3 of 2025, 71% of Fortune 100 companies offer their employees some kind of hybrid arrangement. 

While almost half (45%) of Fortune 100 employees spend 4 or even 5 days in the office, others don’t, as 35% go into the office 3 days a week. That means that full-time in-person work is reserved for only 29% of Fortune 100 employees. 

 #2: A small portion of companies have a no-meeting days policy 

According to the most recent Pumble’s Meeting Statistics, people spend more time in virtual meetings than ever. 

Additionally, the Owl Labs report from 2025 found that, on average, employees attend 5 face-to-face meetings and 5 remote meetings each week. 

Interestingly, Buffer reported that​​ about 37% of companies have implemented a no-meeting days policy. 

An article from the University of Reading analysed the impact of zero-meeting days and concluded that such practices:

• Increase productivity,
• Help employees feel more independent and empowered, and
• Boost employee satisfaction and accountability. 

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#3: Some companies have adopted a 4-day workweek 

Some companies introduced a 4-day workweek (4DWW) policy to reduce the effects of burnout and stress. 

A 4-day workweek experiment conducted in the UK over 2023 that had 61 companies participate found the following results:

• 71% of employees reported being less burned out,
• 60% of employees reported it was easier to balance work and life,
• 48% of employees reported being more satisfied with their job, and
• 39% of employees reported being less stressed. 

Since 2023, we’ve seen more companies explore the possibility of shorter workweeks. A 2024 survey by KPMG found that 30% of large US companies were considering adopting the 4-day workweek. 

Moreover, the 4 Day Week Global pilot program, which involved 2,000 businesses across the US and Canada, found that participating companies saw:

• An 8% spike in revenue during the course of the trial,
• More free time employees could spend on personal appointments and leisure activities, 
• Improved wellness and mental health in the workplace, and
• A one-hour decrease in time spent commuting.   

Statistics showing the changes coming with remote work 

The global spread of remote and hybrid work has brought some changes. Let’s take a deeper look into what they are. 

#1: Overall work conditions changed with remote work

The majority of changes affected the workplace itself. Here’s what changes respondents in Buffer’s report listed: 

• For 56% of respondents, communication and collaboration have changed since they started working remotely. 
• For 53% of respondents, work hours have changed.
• About 51% said they now engage in more video meetings.
• Around 45% said the way they worked has changed. 
• Only 8% said that nothing has changed since they started working remotely. 

#2: People tend to work more when working remotely 

According to Buffer’s 2023 remote work statistics, 44% of remote workers stated they worked more hours in 2023 than the previous year. 

Only 24% said they worked less, and 32% asserted they worked the same hours.

However, the report also states that people are feeling more energized than before — at least according to 48% of respondents. About 31% said their energy levels had not changed, while 21% said they were burnt out.

#3: Amid rising stress levels, most remote workers prioritize mental health 

Since some remote employees have been putting in more hours and weekend work, they have also started taking more care of their mental health. 

Some companies have done the same. According to the Deloitte 2023 survey of Gen Zs and Millennials, over 50% of respondents said their companies were taking mental health issues more seriously and taking concrete steps to improve them.

That’s not to say that employees, especially those in middle-market companies, aren’t still struggling with mental health challenges. 

A 2023 survey by RSM International and the US Chamber of Commerce found that executives identified isolation as the top mental health stressor for their employees. The survey results indicate that approximately 73% of remote workers felt isolated, up from 68% the previous year. 

Despite these earlier findings, little has been done to remedy these issues in the past couple of years. In 2024, Owl Labs revealed that stress levels are increasing in employees. Employees reported feeling: 

• Burnt out (26%), 
• Not fairly compensated (22%), and 
• Feeling their mental health has decreased in the past year (17%).  

The report for 2025 notes that stress levels continue to rise. Furthermore, 68% of working parents now worry that their caregiving responsibilities could negatively impact their job performance.

#4: Connecting in remote workplaces has become essential

Data from WorkTango’s 2022 Workplace Report shows that 90% of workers find connecting in the workplace important. 

This is unsurprising, since connection in the workplace contributes significantly to an employee’s:

• Overall sense of happiness, 
• Desire to be productive, and 
• Level of engagement in their work.

In 2023, over 75% of respondents in Buffer’s report stated they felt connected to their teammates. So, things seemed to be improving in 2023.

However, McKinsey’s future of work report from 2025 highlights that there’s room for further improvement. The report notes that many issues, such as burnout and disconnect, are a result of outdated mindsets and team dynamics — both of which hinder employee experience. 

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#5: There is a disparity in trust perceptions between executives and employees 

According to the “Future of Work Survey” done by PwC, almost the same number of executives (77%) and employees (72%) agree that leaders and employees have a high level of trust facilitated by transparent communication. 

However, RTO mandates have left their mark on employer-employee trust. In a 2024 survey by PwC, 86% of employers reported a high level of trust in their employees, while only 60% of employees felt this was true. The report shows that flexibility and remote work are some of the main ways employers can remedy this. 

The latest research from Glassdoor — ”Worklife Trends 2026” — also points to a growing gap between employees and leadership. Namely, workers are showing an increasing lack of faith in senior leadership, especially in the following industries:

• Management and consulting, 
• Media & communication, and 
• Technology.

Trust will continue to decay unless companies take a closer look at how executives communicate with their staff. Transparency regarding organizational strategy and decision making is a simple way of ensuring employee involvement. 

#6: Strong workplace relationships are important in a remote setting 

When people trust each other, they are more likely to establish stronger relationships, Microsoft’s report stated. 

Half of the remote employees said they had thriving relationships with their direct team, while 42% said they had flourishing relationships with people outside their closest team.

According to Owl Labs, employees were still predominantly concerned with relationships with their colleagues (45%) in 2024. That figure rose to 74% in 2025, signalling that office friendships and professional relationships continue to play a significant role in how we experience work.

Friendships could also make managing multigenerational workforces easier, as Deloitte reports only 10% of employers are ready to address this phenomenon.  

#7: Remote work has affected pay

Regardless of how pay is calculated, 70% of respondents in Buffer’s 2023 report stated their salary has been impacted by switching to remote work — that’s 3% less than in 2022. 

Yet, 35% said their pay is connected to a specific location, and 43% said it isn’t — this is an increase from the previous year, when these numbers were around 40% and 38%, respectively.

However, in 2024, Owl Labs reported that employee behavior changes regardless of the work model. Namely, there was a 25% increase in employees demanding quick promotions and salary increases. In 2025, pay equity remained a top concern for 85% of employees. 

Statistics on the challenges of remote work

Remote work brings particular challenges for both employers and employees. 

Here’s the data on the challenges of remote work.

#1: Lack of proper workplace communication 

Maintaining proper workplace communication still troubles the remote workforce — but not as much as it used to. 

Buffer reported that only 8% of respondents said they had trouble communicating and collaborating with their teammates in 2023. 

In 2024, miscommunication in remote teams was one of the biggest concerns for managers (25%), according to Owl Labs. Employers have offered training on using mixed and real-time asynchronous communication methods to remedy this. 

Data from 2025 also reflects this trend, as 53% of companies provided employees with training on how to use async communication methods. 

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#2: Staying focused and motivated 

Buffer’s 2023 report revealed that some employees struggled with focus and motivation, as 9% had trouble staying focused, while 11% had difficulty staying motivated. 

Owl Labs found that reduced employee focus was also one of the major concerns for 21% of remote managers in 2024. At the same time, the share of employees who experience peak focus working from home is the same as the percentage of people feeling best focused in the office — 41%. 

However, hybrid work seems to have become a solution for employers worried about hindering their teams’ focus. CIPD’s survey highlights that many organizations feel hybrid work arrangements have brought positive changes, which — besides improved motivation — include:

• Better employee retention rates, especially among new hires, and
• Stronger commitment and loyalty among employees. 

#3: Working across time zones 

Buffer found that 14% of respondents cited working across time zones as a remote work challenge. 

With more companies introducing RTO and hybrid models, working across time zones is less of an issue than it was when remote workers operated under the “work from anywhere” policy. 

Of course, distributed teams still exist — especially in remote-first companies — so working across time zones remains one of the biggest challenges of 2026. 

#4: Work-related stress 

Owl Labs’ data for the past 3 years shows that workplace stress remains high. 

In 2023, 56% of workers reported increased work stress levels compared to the previous year. 

In 2024, 43% of employees reported experiencing increased work-related stress. 

The latest numbers reveal that:

• 51% of employees believe that their level of work-related stress hasn’t changed, 
• 39% report an increase, while
• 10% believe there has been a decrease. 

#5: Difficulties with relationship building

Another issue with remote work is that it makes forming meaningful workplace relationships all the more difficult. 

Data from Culture Wizard’s survey confirm this — 71% of respondents agree that building and maintaining relationships is a great challenge for virtual teams. 

When people have difficulty establishing solid relationships at work, they struggle with managing conflicts and workplace disagreements (54%) and find it harder to be spontaneous with colleagues (68%).

In its “Work Trend Index Special Report”, Microsoft states that switching to remote and hybrid work has made rebuilding social connections and team cohesion particularly challenging for decision-makers. 

According to the data, 68% of decision-makers regard maintaining social connections within teams as one of their biggest challenges. Unfortunately, employees suffer the consequences of these hurdles. 

Approximately 51% feel that their relationships with coworkers outside their team have weakened, leaving 43% feeling disconnected from the company. Unless employers combat these numbers, they could see low employee satisfaction chip away at organizational success.

Besides these issues, workers can also experience physical consequences that negatively affect their health. The “IWG Hybrid Working Productivity Report” from 2025 states that remote workers surpass their on-site peers in taking sick leave. This disparity is, to an extent, a result of the intensified loneliness and isolation remote workers experience.  

#6: Inability to disconnect after work 

In Buffer’s 2023 report, 11% of respondents cited difficulty disconnecting after work as their biggest challenge. This percentage is a decrease from the previous year, when 25% of remote workers could not unplug when off the clock. 

The 2023 Deloitte survey of Millennials and Gen Zs confirmed that, but the data also shows that Gen Zs aren’t faring any better — ¾ of Millennials and Gen Zs can’t disconnect from their work. 

These numbers are unfortunate, as there is much to be gained from unplugging post-work. 

A University of Pittsburgh study analyzing the connection between profitability and “right-to-disconnect” laws, which spanned 10 years, revealed the following — in countries with legislation that encourages employees to ignore work-related communication outside office hours, companies see higher revenue alongside lower operating costs. On the other hand, employees report better recovery during their after hours.

#7: Loneliness and isolation 

In 2024, we’ve seen a slight decline in the number of people who feel lonely and isolated due to remote work. According to Owl Labs’ insights from 2024, managers reported having more concerns over loneliness for remote teams (19%) than their on-site colleagues (14%), yet this is still to a lesser degree compared to previous years. 

According to Buffer, 23% of remote workers cited loneliness as their top struggle in 2023. Aside from feeling isolated at work, they also stated that loneliness is exacerbated because they stay at home all day (as remote work does not give them a reason to go out). 

In 2026, these challenges persist. A comprehensive review of loneliness and isolation during the telework era reveals as much, reiterating that the lack of structured social environments and physical interactions typically leads to:

• Greater emotional strain,
• Poorer job performance, and
• Heightened feelings of detachment. 

#8: Fewer opportunities for career advancement and growth 

Working remotely shouldn’t hinder career development and professional growth.

Buffer’s 2023 report dived deep into how remote work affected employees’ opportunities for career advancement, with 28% of respondents stating that their company doesn’t provide career growth opportunities.

Moreover, 36% of respondents said remote work facilitated their career growth.

However, Owl Labs’ findings from 2023 show that proximity bias is a significant concern for the remote workforce. Nearly half of the respondents (48%) fear that working remotely means they won’t be heard and that their in-office coworkers will have more opportunities for progress. 

The situation is even more dire when we consider the opinions of managers and decision-makers. More than half of them (68%) feel their remote or hybrid workers are missing out on constructive feedback and growth opportunities, which may hinder their career growth. Only 29% don’t feel that way. 

The same challenge is present in their 2024 report, with most remote team managers still reporting their team is missing out on impromptu feedback and development opportunities. 

The rise of hybrid work has slightly alleviated these concerns. In their latest report, Owl Labs underscores that 30% of remote and hybrid employees feel being out of the office decreases their development opportunities and chances of receiving spontaneous feedback. 

Statistics on the benefits of remote work 

Of course, we wouldn’t have presented these challenges without several benefits to balance them out.  

Buffer’s data showed that remote work supports employees’ lives in more ways than one by offering a multitude of benefits. 

Respondents cited the following as the most significant advantages of remote work: 

• 22% — Flexibility in how they spend time,
• 19% — Flexibility in where they choose to live,
• 13% — Flexibility in choosing their work location,
• 12% — Having more time because they don’t commute,
• 11% — Saving money,
• 8% — Better focus,
• 7% — Working in their own space, 
• 4% — Flexibility in career opportunities,
• 3% — Feeling safer. 

Let’s take a look at more in-depth data.

#1: Better work-life balance 

In essence, work-life balance is the division of a person’s time and focus between working and family or leisure activities.

Overall, most workers enjoy a better work-life balance when working from home. 

According to Zapier’s report, 96% of respondents associate work-life balance with their happiness at work. 

As the data from the 2024 Gallup report shows, improved work-life balance was at the top of the list of advantages of hybrid work. 

Namely, 76% of respondents cited this as the biggest benefit, followed by: 

• More efficient use of their time (64%), 
• Less burnout (61%), 
• More freedom to choose when and where to work (57%), and 
• Higher productivity (52%). 

More recent data from IWG confirms these findings. According to the research, flexible work arrangements allow employees to shave off their commute times. Around 40% of this extra time is then spent on completing additional work, while the remaining 60% is allocated to tending to personal matters. In the long term, this redistribution reinforces the boundary between work and personal tasks. 

#2: More flexibility 

For remote employees, flexibility is another great advantage of remote working.

For 91% of those examined by Zapier, flexible hours are the second-highest perk of remote work.

The respondents in Buffer’s report on remote work cited overall flexibility as the most significant benefit of remote work. 

Plus, employees can devote more time to family life, thanks to flexible working options. 

Owl Labs data from 2023 found that 34% and 33% of respondents cited flexible working locations and flexible working hours as the most appealing benefits when looking for a new job.

Similarly, the respondents in their 2024 report also valued flexibility above all else. Most respondents (41%) said they would look for a job with more flexibility in where and when they work if they lost their hybrid privileges. In 2025, that number remained mostly stable at 40%. 

#3: Extra free time 

About 59% of work-from-home employees say they enjoy more free time because they don’t commute. 

Additionally, car traffic is decreasing, and people are walking more than ever compared to pre-pandemic times — all thanks to their ability to work from home. 

What’s more, according to FlexJobs, the average one-way commute for US employees is just under 30 minutes. The report also notes that commuting for longer than 30 minutes is directly linked to higher levels of anxiety and stress.

#4: Saving money 

Another often-cited benefit of remote and hybrid work is saving money.

The Owl Labs 2024 report found that hybrid workers save around $42 per day when they work remotely rather than from the office. 

Considering the costs add up, it’s no wonder the same report stated that 29% of respondents would expect a pay increase if they could no longer work remotely or on a hybrid model. 

#5: Diverse options for those who can’t work in the office 

Remote work is a good choice for people who find it difficult or simply can’t work from the office, Buffer’s report from 2022 revealed. 

These are:

• People with disabilities, 
• Parents and caregivers, and 
• Pet owners. 

People with a disability or chronic illnesses prefer remote work because it gives them more flexibility — 44% of Buffer’s respondents who identified as having a chronic disability or disease agree. 

Additionally, remote work provides them better access to a full range of opportunities for professional growth. 

Another demographic that greatly benefits from remote work are parents — the 2023 Owl Labs findings revealed that 66% of employees had children living at home. 

In the 2025 report, 62% of respondents stated their children still lived at home, while:

• 13% had children no longer living at home, and 
• 24% had no children. 

#6: Increased employee engagement and morale 

According to Owl Labs, remote work supports better employee engagement and increases morale. This is good news, considering engagement is still one of the top concerns of managers leading hybrid/remote teams in 2026. 

The data shows that 27% of managers are concerned about employee engagement.

Disengagement at work is also a concern for employees — 52% cite it as the top concern. 

Luckily, Buffer reports that over 58% of respondents who work remotely are engaged in their job: 

• 35% are very engaged, 
• 23% are somewhat engaged, 
• 12% are neither engaged nor disengaged, and 
• 18% are disengaged.  

Moreover, Gallup’s data shows that remote and hybrid employees have continually surpassed their on-site colleagues in terms of engagement since 2020. 

Similar research from IWG suggests that hybrid work — which encompasses occasional get-togethers for in-person teamwork — can maintain high engagement levels. Not only does this diminish the isolation and loneliness employees experience but also translates into tangible gains for employers. Namely, high engagement is directly connected to productivity gains, and US businesses can expect to bring in $17.6 billion by 2030.  

Statistics on remote work and productivity 

Since remote and hybrid work have become more prevalent, productivity concerns have preoccupied employers and employees. However, opinions are divided on the impact of remote work on productivity.

Some researchers believe it has reduced employees’ productivity, while others think it has genuinely boosted productivity in the workplace. 

Here are the latest remote work productivity statistics and data. 

Most employees claim they are more productive when working from home 

The majority of research shows that employees are more productive when they work remotely. In fact, Owl Labs’ 2025 report reveals that, in general, managers have a positive outlook on hybrid work, with:

• 69% believing it has positively influenced their teams’ productivity, 
• 19% stating there have been no shifts in employee productivity, and only
• 12% stating their teams’ have become less productive. 

The 2024 edition of the report showed that employee productivity remained consistent among remote and hybrid workers (90%). However, 46% of employees said their company has introduced or increased employee productivity monitoring software in the past year. 

In 2023, an overwhelming majority of their respondents — 91% — said they feel they are the same or more productive in their current work model. 

Based on data from a two-year study by Great Place to Work that examined the responses of over 800,000 employees at Fortune 500 companies, most people experienced stable or increased productivity levels after shifting to work from home. 

More than half of people say they feel more productive working in the office

According to the “Flex Report”, companies with more flexible policies outperform organizations driven by RTO mandates. 

Yet, asking employees about their personal productivity brings a more nuanced approach to on-site vs hybrid productivity. Respondents in Owl Labs’ 2024 survey showed that their productivity depends on the activity, not solely on a place of work. 

Thus: 

• 45% of employees report feeling more productive in meeting deadlines on-site (vs 36% remote), 
• 44% report feeling more productive collaborating on-site (compared to 24% remote), and 
• 41% report feeling more productive brainstorming on-site (vs 34% remote).  

Most leaders are still concerned about employee productivity 

An Atlassian survey of Fortune 500 executives showed that managers and leaders were still worried about productivity levels in 2024.

Although 91% of respondents said they implemented some form of back-to-office mandate, productivity levels were still a major concern — almost as if they were worried that pushing people back into offices would negatively affect their productivity. 

Moreover, Owl Labs’ research shows managers’ concerns about employee productivity have increased since 2023. In 2024, they reported that their teams were 62% more productive when working hybrid or remotely — a noticeable decline from 79% reported in 2023. And in 2025, 79% of respondents believed that some employers were pushing RTO policies in a bid to improve productivity and collaboration. 

Productivity can depend on the type of work model 

In its “Virtual Teams” report, Culture Wizard revealed that not all work models have the same impact on employee productivity. 

The key takeaway was that companies implementing remote work model types (e.g., fully remote, remote-first, or hybrid) enjoy higher productivity.

Similarly, Owl Labs found in 2024 that employee productivity varies across work models, depending on the productivity category. 

So, we’re seeing people feel most productive working independently from home, while meeting new people and partaking in mentorship is more suited for the office, in their opinion. Coworking spaces are given the least amount of credit across almost all categories. 

Statistics showing the role of online collaboration tools in remote work 

Staying connected during the pandemic, when most businesses had to work remotely, was essential. 

Accordingly, the use of online collaboration tools skyrocketed, making it easier for companies to communicate and collaborate with their employees even from afar. 

But how much do remote workers rely on collaboration tools for communication? 

What have companies done to facilitate communication and collaboration for their remote workforce? 

Are employees and employers satisfied with tools and processes facilitating remote communication? 

Let’s see whether the 2026 remote work statistics can shed light on these questions. 

Collaboration tools took off in 2021 and plateaued in 2023

According to Gartner’s “Digital Worker Experience Survey“, almost 80% of workers used collaboration tools in 2021. This represents an increase from 55% in 2019 to 44% since the pandemic began. 

Another group of tools that saw a significant increase in use was storage and document-sharing tools — about 10%. 

Moreover, 80% of remote workers used instant messaging apps in 2021, up from 75% in 2019.  

These numbers were expected to be somewhat lower in 2024, due to RTO mandates. According to Zippia’s research, 56% of workers use collaboration tools daily. 

Buffer’s remote work statistics show that in 2023, remote workers preferred communicating with clients and teammates via messaging apps much more than via email — 50% compared to 22%. 

Companies are recognizing this shift, too. In the “State of Teams 2025” report, 93% of executives highlighted that technology and software play a pivotal role in their success. 

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Most companies introduced a proper system for remote communication and collaboration 

In Owl Labs’ 2023 report, 39% of respondents said their employer had updated their video technology to allow for more hybrid communication and collaboration. 

The report also shows that quite a few employees — 64% — thought they had to juggle too many communication platforms.

It seems that an all-in-one internal communication and collaboration platform would solve many problems for remote and hybrid workers. 

The importance of good collaboration and communication tools cannot be overstated. In the 2024 Owl Lab report, more respondents (86%) stated having online or hybrid meetings than in-person (83%). So, using collaboration tools is a must for many. 

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Moreover, in 2025, some employers made efforts to simplify digital communication by:

• Hiring more IT staff and support (29%) and
• Installing or upgrading new video and audio equipment (21%). 

Younger generations are more likely to use collaboration tools 

Collaboration tools are a significant part of remote work. In most cases, remote workers are expected to use them daily to stay in touch with their team and do their jobs. 

However, research on multigenerational workforces shows that younger people are more likely to rely on collaboration tools, especially video conferencing and workplace communication apps. These tools can help them avoid miscommunication and track progress.  

More recent data shows similar trends. A 2024 Owl Labs survey found that 51% of the employees who loved their hybrid meeting tech were Millennials, compared to only 17% of Boomers. 

Using reliable and easy-to-use video conferencing software can bring this number up and create a more enjoyable, effortless, and productive virtual meeting environment for all generations. 

All generations feel overwhelmed by the multitude of apps 

While collaboration tools facilitate communication and collaboration, all generations feel that switching between these apps often wastes their time. 

For example, 60% of employees aged 18–24 and 63% aged 25–34 think they waste time switching between collaboration tools. 

About 99% of remote workers use approximately 4.8 different conferencing tools, data from FinancesOnline statistics reveals. 

Even though employees older than 55 usually use fewer collaboration apps, about 40% also think they are wasting time switching between collaboration technologies.

Recently, according to Owl Labs, the desire for more user-friendly tools has grown stronger. In 2025, 8 in 10 respondents stated they lost time due to technical difficulties. Compounding the issue, 1 in 4 respondents reported losing more than 10 minutes when joining a hybrid meeting due to the complex setups.

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Statistics showing how secure remote work is

Since remote and hybrid work are here to stay, companies must step up their cybersecurity game. 

But, how are they keeping their remote workforce and sensitive data secure?

Do organizations trust their remote workers?

Do they implement and update their cybersecurity strategies regularly?

To learn more, we’ll look at the statistics on what companies are doing to ensure cybersecurity in remote work settings in 2026. 

More than half of the companies allow remote access to corporate apps from personal devices  

According to Check Point’s Cybersecurity Report from 2026, attackers have shifted their approach. Replacing phishing attacks via email, multi-channel social engineering has now become the go-to way of exploiting vulnerabilities. As a result, victims are manipulated into revealing confidential information, withthe most common targets being:

• Employees,
• Outsourced staff, and
• Third-party service providers. 

In fact, such attacks spiked by around 500% compared to the year before. That’s why Check Point identifies data protection as a critical security outcome for modern organization. 

Data loss incidents from insider-driven events have increased by 28% since 2021. Moreover, most (85%) of information security experts expected this trend to continue in the next 12 months, according to mimecast’s data exposure report for 2024. 

Considering the percentage of companies allowing remote employees to use their personal devices for business purposes, it is not surprising that Check Point found that 87% of them have experienced an attempted exploit of an already-known, existing vulnerability. 

For the majority of companies, VPN connections provide secure remote access 

According to CyberTalk’s data, 73% of companies rely on VPN connections to secure remote access to company apps and tools.

However, just because companies implement some security features doesn’t mean employees will use them. 

For example, according to Tech.co’s 2024 report — “The Impact of Technology on the Workplace” — 59% of respondents stated that they aren’t using a VPN, even though their company provided one.

Moreover, 56% of enterprises have experienced a cyberattack connected to VPN vulnerabilities, according to the 2024 risk report by Cybersecurity Insiders. 

Check Point’s latest report supports these findings, noting that VPN access, collaboration apps, and other corporate services are often the entry points attackers exploit to gain access to organizational infrastructure.

These limitations and vulnerabilities have urged many organizations to transition to Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) models, offering better security by continually verifying user identities and device compliance. 

So, sometimes, relying on a few elements here and there to provide secure remote access isn’t enough. 

This is where remote work security policies come in handy. 

Most companies have a remote work security policy

According to the OpenVPN’s cybersecurity survey, about 93% of companies have a remote work security policy. 

But, what exactly do these policies entail? 

OpenVPN’s report revealed that the top 3 elements most companies include in their remote work security policies are: 

1. VPNs (74%),
2. Sensitive data encryption (69%), and
3. Prohibiting the use of personal devices for work-related data (68%).

Other elements include: 

• Security training for employees (66%),
• Password management (56%), and
• Prohibiting BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) (38%).

The “OpenVPN VPN Statistics and Trends for 2025” reported that remote and hybrid workforces demand the continuous refinement of security policies. Consequently, many companies have committed to implementing additional protections, such as:

• Routine updates,
• Vulnerability testing, and
• Threat monitoring. 

Risk perception varies among employees and executives 

According to OpenVPN’s Cybersecurity Report, 90% of respondents believe remote work isn’t secure. 

Additionally, 73% of VPs and C-suite executives say remote workers pose a greater risk than on-site employees.

About 48% of IT managers and 45% of IT directors feel the same.

These security concerns are a primary reason companies have begun pairing VPNs with Zero Trust technology. The “VPN Statistics and Trends for 2025” report acknowledges that this behaviour reflects the “trust never, verify always” motto many organizations have adopted to bolster their user authentication methods. 

Companies usually organize cybersecurity training twice per year

Providing proper employee training is a step forward in creating a reliable and secure work-from-home environment. 

The OpenVPN survey found that about 90% of companies offer security training for remote employees. 

However, they have also revealed that only 23% of companies require their workforce to undergo cybersecurity training more than twice yearly.

Unfortunately, in 2025, many organizations didn’t prioritize cybersecurity training. More recently, the World Economic Forum’s cybersecurity report for 2026 examined whether organizations provide cybersecurity guidance or assistance and found that:

• 34% offer formal training, services, or programs, 
• 31% offer informal procedures (such as advice or consultations), and
• 35% have no training or assistance program at all. 

Despite increased awareness, risky behavior continues

Check Point’s 2025 findings show that 96% of exploits in 2024 used vulnerabilities disclosed prior to that year, pointing out the need for more proactive measures. 

Findings for 2026 highlight the need for increased vigilance due to frequent voice-fishing. The report summarizes approximately 40 incidents where attackers posed as IT support to compel targets to reveal information, such as passwords and administrative credentials. 

This increasing incident rate is a persistent remote work trend throughout the past couple of years. 

In the first 9 months of 2023, more than 360 million people fell victim to corporate or institutional data breaches despite being aware of the risks, according to a report by Dr. Stuart E. Madnick titled “The Continued Threat to Personal Data: Key Factors Behind the 2023 Increase”.

Verizon’s “2025 Data Breach Investigations Report” reveals that 46% of incidents involving compromised systems occurred due to employees using:

• Corporate logins on their personal devices, or
• Company-issued devices for personal matters, possibly breaking privacy policies.

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Gen AI is creating new cybersecurity concerns

Verizon’s report acknowledges that generative AI has become a widely used tool for cyberattacks. Specifically, malicious AI-generated content in emails has doubled in the last two years. However, what may be of greater concern to businesses is the potential for AI tools to become an “in-house” threat.

Internal data leakage is a significant consequence of AI misuse, as:

• 15% of employees admit to using corporate devices to regularly access AI tools.
• 72% of employees have used their corporate devices to access AI tools via their personal email addresses.

With AI being a new frontier in the IT sector, risks regarding data leakage and compromised data raise pressing privacy concerns. Moving into 2026 and beyond, companies across all sectors will likely focus on developing appropriate responses regarding security and compliance. 

What is the future of remote work in 2026?

In 2024, The Great Resignation — also known as the Big Quit and the Great Reshuffle — was all the rave worldwide. 

Starting in early 2021, the Great Resignation saw employees voluntarily resign from their jobs en masse, mainly seeking better work conditions and benefits like remote work or flexible work hours.

Data from a US Labor of Statistics survey released in 2023 show that 3.9 million workers quit in January alone. In 2021 and 2022, that number regularly exceeded 4 million each month. Some even predicted the “Big Stay” era in 2024. 

The Great Resignation paved the way for “Quiet Quitting” — or doing the bare minimum to keep your job, but not a thing beyond that. In best cases, managers took notice and did their best to keep the talent with different incentives such as flexibility. Others saw employees get more scrappy and engage in polyworking — working an additional job — to secure additional income and explore a side project. 

Then, in late 2024, we saw employees enter their Great Detachment era. Dissatisfaction with their employers, poor job market, and inflation all led to employees feeling stuck and disconnected. This led to an all-time low share of employees (18%) who reported being satisfied with their jobs and anall-time high percentage of people (51%) watching for or actively seeking a new job.    

Finally, 2025 brought a compromise. As RTO mandates disrupted employees who had comfortably settled into a fully remote routine, employers realized that the right balance was key to retaining (and attracting) top talent. 

In 2025, Skedda’s report on the modern workplace singled out hybrid work as the most sustainable solution moving forward. Companies are happy with this arrangement, too, as the report notes:

• 87% of HR leaders admit hybrid-work contributes to better work-life balance, while
• 84% believe it has increased job satisfaction among employees. 

So, what do the remote work statistics for 2026 predict for the future of work? 

How many employees would leave their current jobs without a remote or hybrid work option?

Let’s find out. 

People would like to continue working remotely

In 2023, the global workforce leaned even more into remote work. Buffer’s “State of Remote Work 2023” indicates that 98% of employees wish to continue working remotely in some capacity for the rest of their careers. 

The 2024 reports showed that 40% of remote employees would look for a different job if they could no longer work remotely, while 22% said they’d expect a salary increase. 

Findings from 2025 are similar. A poll from the Pew Research Center confirmed that 72% of hybrid workers would like to continue that arrangement. Meanwhile, 62% of respondents who have rarely or never worked from home stated they would like to switch to hybrid work, at least part of the time. 

And there’s still palpable resistance to full-time in-person work. Almost half of the respondents (46%) stated they would likely quit if required to permanently return to the office. 

Many employees want more flexible arrangements

The “Flex Report 2024” correctly predicted that many companies would issue structured hybrid work policies in 2024. This trend continued throughout 2025, although the ability to work from home is something many workers continue to seek out. According to the “FlexJobs Remote Work Index”, 85% of job seekers rank remote work above other appealing benefits, including salary.

A 2025 report by King’s College London, which explored RTO mandates,  notes growing resistance among employees, as only 42% would agree to spending their entire workweek in the office. In 2022, that figure was around 54%. 

Some employees would quit if they couldn’t work remotely anymore 

In 2023 and 2024, employees were ready to hand in their resignations at their current in-office jobs if a remote opportunity came up.

In the “State of Hybrid Work” report, Owl Labs’ respondents said that if they weren’t allowed to work remotely or hybrid, they would:

• Expect a pay increase — 29%,
• Start looking for another job with more flexibility in location — 24%,
• Start looking for another job with more flexibility in working hours — 18%
• Stay, but be unhappy — 9%,
• Stay, but be less willing to go the extra mile — 9%
• Not mind — 7%, and
• Quit — 4%.

Although only 4% of the workforce would quit on the spot, most would eventually leave the workplace.

The situation was no different in 2025. While 5% of respondents would outright quit, 40% would begin looking for a new position — a noticeable 16% percent increase from 2024. 

Remote employees job-hunt for various reasons 

After the pandemic, remote workers have changed their priorities and shifted workplace expectations. 

The latest Owl Labs report finds that the number of remote and hybrid professionals actively looking for a new job is 27% — the same as in 2024.  

The reasons for this vary:

• Better compensation — 49%,
• Better work-life balance — 48%,
• Better career opportunity — 44%,
• Doing something they enjoy — 35%,
• Lowering stress — 32%,
• More flexibility around when they work — 28%,
• More flexibility around where they work — 24%.

Although compensation is the highest on the list, employees also stated they would seek new job opportunities if they weren’t recognized on the job — no matter the money.

Employees won’t accept just any job offer

Even though people aren’t as quick on the trigger as they were during the Great Resignation, they still won’t accept a job offer that doesn’t check all their boxes. 

Data from Owl Lab shows there were 5 distinct reasons employees declined a job offer in 2025, and they all have to do with remote/hybrid work policies:

1. They don’t have flexible work hours — 37%,
2. They have to work in-office full time — 34%,
3. They don’t have a flexible work location — 30%,
4. They’re required to be in the office during specific days or times — 24%,
5. They have to work remotely full time — 20%.

Remote employees are ready to sacrifice a lot to stay remote

In 2024, many people couldn’t work fully remotely. Consequently, they clung to flexible work hours and hybrid work. 

The Owl Lab report from that year shows that, for example, 16% of respondents would take a 20% pay cut to get flexible work hours. Meanwhile, 17% of respondents would take the same reduction to work remotely. 

In 2025, the average employee was willing to have their annual salary cut by 9% to keep a flexible schedule. 

When we look at data across generations, it’s clear that younger employees are more likely to take a pay cut for the sake of flexibility:

1. Gen Z — 78%.
2. Millennials — 73%.
3. Gen X — 57%.
4. Boomers — 29%.

Remote, in-office, or somewhere in the middle? 

While some companies plan to stay fully remote and others are rushing to return to offices, the future is uncertain for some. 

Buffer reported that in 2022, 9% of employees said their company wasn’t planning to make remote work permanent, nearly identical to its findings in 2023. 

Another novelty revealed in Own Labs’ report for 2023 shows that more than half of respondents (53%) don’t trust that the company policies they had in 2023 would remain in place in 2024. They believed their employer would reduce the remote/hybrid benefits.

In Q4 2024, we witnessed these predictions coming true. According to the Flex Index, the percentage of companies requiring full-time in-office work reached 32% in the last quarter of 2024, becoming the second most prevalent work model. At the same time, fully flexible work models — requiring no obligatory office time — dropped from 31% in 2023 to 25% in 2025.   

The “Cisco Global Hybrid Work Study 2025” acknowledges that many companies are attempting to gradually phase out remote and hybrid work. In their inaugural issue of the survey, 62% of respondents worked under some kind of hybrid policy. However, that number dropped to 42% in 2025. 

The study also notes that employers have started customizing hybrid policies to meet the needs of modern workforce, as:

• 73% of respondents believe their new working arrangement makes them more productive, 
• 50% of top performers are with organizations requiring fewer than 3 days of in-office work, and
• 46% of employees admit their new work policies require more in-person work. 

Rather than pushing to a full-scale return to office spaces, employers might try to sustain this balance in 2026. 

Statistics showing trends that will shape the future of work 

Although we can’t ever truly predict what’s next, experts across the globe have already anticipated a few remote work trends that will most certainly shape the future way of work. 

At the start of 2021, many expected a return to “normal” — a return to the office.

However, 2021 turned out more unstable than imagined, shaped by a massive war for talent, high inflation levels, and high resignation rates. 

Employment Hero reports that in 2022, our perception of normal changed, as under half of the surveyed employees (45%) were back for full-time in-person work. In 2023, that number increased even more.

According to the 2024 Owl Labs report, 25% of workers noticed their employer had changed their remote or hybrid work policy, and now we’re seeing more people take undisclosed workcations and engage in polyworking as a result.  

So, what can we expect for the future of work in 2026? Let’s take a closer look. 

#1: Companies will scurry to find the perfect hybrid strategy

As mentioned throughout this report, hybrid work seems to be the future of work. 

As predicted, companies have used most of 2025 to polish their hybrid structures. 

But, it remains to be seen whether they’ve landed on the perfect ratio of in-office work and work-from-home days.

What’s more, as per CAKE.com’s insights on the future of work, companies will also have to come up with incentives to motivate employees to embrace hybrid work practices. 

#2: Coffee badging will remain popular

If you don’t know what coffee badging is, you’re not alone. This trend, which emerged in 2023, might not be something you’ve heard of, but it’s probably something you’ve done — especially if you’re a hybrid worker. 

Coffee badging, sometimes also referred to as peacocking — or, simply put, posturing — is a phenomenon where hybrid workers go into the offices to meet the company-mandated minimum but spend as little time as possible there and return home. 

So they pop in, have a quick coffee, ensure everyone has seen them, and then return home. 

In 2023, 58% of hybrid workers did this, while another 8% were eager to try it. That means that 66% of the hybrid workforce actively avoided the office.

The Owl Labs report finds that coffee badging has remained strong throughout 2024. In fact, almost half of workers (40%) reported still participating in the trend even though 70% admitted their employers are on to them. 

By 2025, the trend was still relevant, with:

• 43% of employees participating, and 
• Another 12% admitting they were planning to start. 

#3: The use of AI will continue

In 2023, the Top Employers Institute touched on using AI technology in its “World of Work Trends Report”. According to their data, some businesses were already using AI tools to generate prompts for developing employee learning programs. 

In 2024, 24% of respondents in the Owl Labs report said they used AI tools daily, while an additional 23% of them reported using them multiple times a day. Furthermore, 47% of employers used AI technology to replace or augment employee roles.  

The 2025 edition of the report revealed that 80% of workers used AI in some capacity — whether their employers were aware of it or not.

The “From Burnout to Balance” report from Upwork indicates that executives have high hopes for AI’s impact on employee productivity in the following years. Namely, as many as 96% of C-level leaders believe AI tools will significantly boost company-wide productivity. This is also seen in their decision to use AI tools, with: 

• 39% of companies mandating the use of AI tools, and 
• Another 46% encouraging their use.

However, employees don’t yet share this enthusiasm: 

• 77% of employees say the tools are doing the opposite of what’s expected by adding to their workload.
• 47% of employees report not understanding how to achieve the expected productivity levels with AI. 

CAKE.com’s 2024 report on the “State of Workplace Culture and Work-Life Balance” points out that the adoption of AI is happening slower than expected. Even though 74.13% of workplaces adopted AI tools, most of them (58.31%) only use one or two AI tools.   

All things considered, AI will surely become an even bigger staple in both on-site and remote work in 2026. Therefore, both employees and managers should prepare for it. 

Leaders should prepare to change and adapt their plans and expectations for Gen AI as tools evolve and employee proficiency improves.

#4: Negative attitude towards work and #WorkTok

Workers are generally dissatisfied with their jobs and are not afraid to say it.  

In 2024, we saw work go social in a major way, with more people than ever publicly putting their employers on blast. Trends such as #WorkTok took over social media, with people detailing the negative practices of their current and former employers. As much as 37% of all workers admitted (to Owl Labs) to posting negatively about their employer on social media.

Disengagement was another big concern for 48% of employees, who cited the following reasons for this attitude toward their work: 

• Burnout — 27%, 
• Lack of growth opportunities — 24%, 
• Increased workload — 22%, 
• Unfair compensation — 22%, 
• Not feeling valued — 22%, and
• Declining mental health — 20%. 

In line with this, we’re seeing more workers instilling boundaries on not going beyond their specific job requirements. More than a third of respondents (38%) said they block off time in their calendars to protect it from meetings.   

In 2026 and beyond, employers who want to keep their top performers have an immense responsibility in addressing these issues and concerns. 

#5: Companies will continue dealing with an all-time-high talent shortage

The talent shortage is another major issue in the business world.

Findings from this ManpowerGroup “Global Talent Shortage” survey show that talent shortages plagued organizations throughout 2025 — 73% of companies reported difficulty finding the skilled talent required for their industry. 

The survey also showed that the top 5 industries affected by the global talent shortage are: 

1. Healthcare and life science,
2. Energy and utilities,
3. IT,
4. Transport, logistics, and automotive, and
5. Consumer goods and services. 

#6 Workcations are on the rise

Workcations or “quiet vacationing” is a relatively new trend among hybrid and remote workers, but it’s quickly picking up. The number of remote and hybrid employees working remotely from different locations other than their homes or coworking spaces is growing. 

In its “State of Hybrid” report, Owl Labs found that as much as 58% of remote workers were quiet vacationing in 2024, out of which:

• 26% reported workcationing 2–3 times, 
• 15% worked outside their homes and offices once, 
• 9% quiet vacationed 4–5 times, while
• 8% of remote workers took a workcation more than 5 times. 

It’s safe to assume that more remote and hybrid workers will adopt this trend, which seems quite appealing to professionals looking for more flexibility in their work arrangements. 

#7 Polyworking is getting a foothold

The Owl Labs report for 2025 suggests that US workers are switching to polyworking after resigning, silently quitting, and detaching. 

Approximately 28% of workers admitted to having another job, while 16% said they were planning to join the trend in 2026.  

The reasons for this decision vary:

• 40% of workers cited needing additional income, 
• 39% said they enjoy a side project, 
• 35% admitted their first job was easy, giving them extra time to explore other things, 
• 32% wanted more money (even if they didn’t need it), 
• 31% wanted to help a family member or a friend, and 
• 28% said the second job is their true passion.     

Give yourself a leg-up in the remote workspace with Pumble

Although the shift to fully remote work was unplanned and sudden, data showed a significant global impact.

Even with the push to return to the office in 2023 and 2024, some degree of hybrid and remote will surely survive beyond 2026. . 

With this in mind, here are several actions businesses can take to ensure productivity continues to thrive:

• Ensure better workplace communication: Optimize internal communication practices and promote a healthy remote company culture. 
• Enact supportive policies: Put forward policies that support WFH employees, protect their mental health, and give them enough flexibility to manage their time.
• Invest in resources: Increase investment in training remote workers and providing them with the necessary software to perform their jobs effectively.

For remote and hybrid workers, collaboration software like Pumble by CAKE.com helps streamline teamwork by:

• Centralizing communication: Keep all conversations in one place, thanks to public and private channels, DMs, groups, and threads.
• Boosting real-time collaboration: Get immediate feedback and establish rapport with audio calls and video conferencing.
• Keeping information accessible: Use third-party access and file sharing to give all team members the info they need. 

When all data is centralized in one digital space, remote and hybrid work are easy to implement and maintain. 

Take charge of your remote workspace. 

Get started with Pumble by CAKE.com

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