Remote Work Shows Slight Decline in Popularity

Remote work declined in popularity throughout 2021, but only marginally, a new study by Apartment List found. Last April, 51 percent of workers were working from home at least half the time, and by December, that share had fallen to 44 percent. And within this remote group, a shift from working only-at-home to working mostly-at home was observed.

Some 56 percent of remote workers were exclusively at-home in April, compared to 47 percent in December. Hybrid arrangements that include on-site work days have become more common, but broadly speaking, remote work continues to entrench itself in the national economy. 

Remote Workers’ Sentiments Haven’t Budged

While a crop of workers made their way back to the office in 2021, for those who remained remote, their expectations for the future did not budge. When asked if their employer signaled that their jobs would continue remote or transition back to the office post-pandemic, in April, 77 percent of workers said that according to their employer, remote work would continue indefinitely. In December, 78 percent said the same. 

Apartment List also found that hybrid arrangements are gaining some popularity.

Last April, 40 percent of remote workers expected their employers to adopt remote work permanently, compared to 37 percent who expected hybrid work to become the norm. In December, the share expecting full-time remote work from home fell to 33 percent while the share expecting hybrid remote work rose to 45 percent.

As of December 2021, millennials are the most-remote generation, but by only a few percentage points compared to the rest. Across the board, more than 40 percent of workers in all generations are working from home, from Boomers nearing the end of their careers to Gen Zers who are just starting theirs.

Boomers Most Feel Working from Home ‘Extremely Desirable’

The survey finds that more than any other generation, 62 percent of Boomer remote workers believe working from home is “extremely desirable” going forward; 54 percent of remote workers from Generation X agree, as do just over half of all Millennial remote workers.

Generation Z is the only group in which a majority of workers feel differently; among this youngest batch of remote workers who were ages 25 or younger at the time of the survey, 36 percent said remote work is “extremely” desirable, 27 percent described it as “very” desirable, 28 percent as “somewhat” desirable, and the remaining 9 percent as “not so” or “not at all” desirable.