Remote work statistics: 2025 and beyond
Nearly 60% of the global workforce now works remotely at least part of the time. Driven by technology and the demand for flexibility, this shift is reshaping productivity, employee satisfaction, and how businesses operate.
Benefits of remote work
This research comes from WFHresearch.com where the 2023 Global Survey of Working Arrangements showed that commute is still the number one benefit of working remotely, with saving on gas, flexibility, and getting back time following:
Working from Home Around the Globe: 2023 Report
State of WFH is shifting hard in 2025
According to Gallup:
Eight in 10 remote-capable employees expect to work hybrid or fully remote.
Five in 10 are working hybrid (part of their week at home and part on-site).
Three in 10 are working exclusively remotely.
Two in 10 are working entirely on-site.
We will likely see these ratios change as return-to-office mandates heat up. Over 2 million people work for the federal government and various estimates show roughly half work a hybrid schedule.
Pew Research Center data very recently revealed that “nearly half of workers in this group (46%) say that if their employer no longer allowed them to work from home, they would be unlikely to stay at their current job.” 26% put themselves in the very unlikely group:
Yet for some remote companies, they may see the benefit of maintaining at least a hybrid structure:
16% of companies operate fully remote (Source: Owl Labs)
Findings from Global Workplace Analytics, which suggests that hybrid working arrangements can save organizations more than $11,000 per employee annually on average. (Global Workplace Analytics)
Remote workers are willing to get paid less
According to ZIpRecruiter’s data on Remote Salaries, as of March 2023 the average salary for a remote worker is $63,323, which is lower than Statista’s 2022 national average of $77,643.
This is because people report they’re willing to take up to a 14% pay cut on average just to work from home.
Why? Well because they enjoy their job a lot more when it doesn’t force them to spend an extra 15-20 hours per week driving:
Best countries for remote work combine safety, cost of living, and infrastructure
Published by security organization Nordlayer.com, the Global Remote Work Index 2023 is based on data from credible and recognized sources, such as the UN and the World Economic Forum.
The index measures four main areas that determine the quality of remote working: cybersecurity, economics, infrastructure, and social safety – including safety from crime and access to human rights.
Denmark
Netherlands
Germany
Spain
Sweden
Portugal
Estonia
Lithuania
Ireland
Slovakia
>Read the guide to getting a digital nomad visa for remote work in these countries.
In total, 218 job types out of 5,400 are conducive to becoming global digital jobs – these represent 73 million workers, out of the 820 million total global workers represented by the International Labour Organization (ILO)’s occupation employment statistics. (World Economic Forum)
The 73 million global digital jobs that exist today are estimated to grow to 92 million by 2030. Keep reading to find out which sectors.
Remote work demographics skew younger
According to Forbes.com analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics, the highest percentage of remote workers are aged 24 to 35 and 38% of advanced degree holders work remotely.
A higher percentage of men work remotely than women
According to McKinsey & Company’s American Opportunity Survey from Spring 2022;
38% of men work remotely full time, and 23% part time
30% of women work remotely full time, and 22% part time
Except… 61% of men said they were offered remote-working opportunities versus 52% of women. hmm.
Gen Z wants more in-person social and mentorship opportunities than Millennials
The WFHResearch survey also revealed:
20-24 year olds are least likely to apply to remote roles. Gen Z may have grown up on the Internet but it turns out they still crave social interactions at work.
They had the lowest percentage of applications to remote postings by age group: 20-24 (35.5%), 25-29 (39.9%), 30-34 (47.8%), and 35+ (48.8%).
Millennials are the age group with the most remote workers. 36.5% of remote workers in the U.S. are between the ages of 25 and 39, 29.8% are 40 to 54 years old, 16% of remote workers ages 55 to 64, 10.7% are 65 or older, and just 6.9% of work from home employees are between the ages of 18 and 24.
US leads in % of work week spent at home
The U.S. has the world’s highest average number of remote work from home days per week.
Employers in the United States allow their hybrid employees to work remotely an average of 1.9 days each week.
The worldwide average is 1.13 days per week.
Sectors most likely to employ remote digital workers by 2030
The World Economic Forum January 2024 whitepaper explains that by 2030, the number of online jobs is expected to rise to around 92 million. These jobs are skewed more towards higher-paying roles due to growth in higher-wage global digital jobs, decline in lower-wage jobs, and new jobs being exclusively high- and middle-income roles.
Accounting, legal, finance professionals
Business operations, human resources, operations research analysts
IT professionals
Customer service representatives
Marketing, advertising, and communication experts
Media professionals
Cyber-related jobs
Risk management jobs
By 2030, three key factors will change the size and make-up of these jobs:
The expected working-age population will grow (the baseline assumption is that these jobs will increase in line with the working-age population);
New jobs will become part of the potentially digital and global jobs; and
Some roles will grow and decline due to other technological, sustainability and economic trends like AI.
This Figure illustrates how these three factors are expected to change the number of these jobs, resulting in a total size of around 92 million in 2030 – an increase of around 25%.
What will happen to the decline of remote jobs if AI actually delivers on its promises?
Scability and deployability are still in question. Even though only 5% of banks and 6% of insurers have been able to reliably use AI at scale in key face-to-face customer interactions, many of these organizations are reporting operations cost reductions of up to 13%, and have increased revenue per customer by 10%. Except.. half of customers say they get zero value from AI-powered customer service.
Remote work is here to stay – for some
From high-wage to lower-wage roles, the digital workforce is becoming increasingly diverse, with remote work technologies, generative AI, and decentralized systems reshaping the landscape. As engineering investments around AI explode, the industries (like media and customer service) that are impacted the most will see the most volatility.
The data showing the projected expansion of these roles – and employees’ willingness to keep them – highlights the incredible opportunities emerging in the digital economy.
If you're still thinking about going (or staying) remote, remember to put your staff’s best interest front and center, and the health of your business will follow.
