Is 'Work From Home' Here to Stay After 2023?

'Remote-work numbers have dwindled over the past few years as employers issue return-to-office mandates,' reports USA Today. 'But will that continue in 2024?'

The numbers started to slide after spring 2020, when more than 60% of days were worked from home, according to data from WFH Research, a scholarly data collection project. By 2023, that number had dropped to about 25% â' much lower than its peak but still a fivefold increase from 5% in 2019. But work-from-home numbers have held steady throughout most of 2023. And according to remote-work experts, they're expected to rebound in the years to come as companies adjust to work-from-home trends. 'Return-to-office died in '23,' said Nick Bloom, an economics professor at Stanford University and work-from-home expert. 'There's a tombstone with 'RTO' on it....'

Though a number of companies issued return-to-work mandates this year, most are allowing employees to work from home at least part of the week. That makes 2024 the year for employers to figure out the hybrid model. 'We're never going to go back to a five-days-in-the-office policy,' said Stephan Meier, professor of business at Columbia University. 'Some employers are going to force people to come back, but I think over the next year, more and more firms will actually figure out how to manage hybrid well.' Thirty-eight percent of companies require full-time in-office work, down from 39% one quarter ago and 49% at the start of the year, according to software firm Scoop Technologies...

[Stanford economics professor] Bloom called remote-work numbers in 2023 'pancake-flat.' Yes, large companies like Meta and Zoom made headlines by ordering workers back to the office. But, Bloom said, just as many other companies were quietly reducing office attendance to cut costs.

Bloom thinks holograms and VR devices are possible within five years. 'In the long run, the thing that really matters is technology.'

One paper estimates that currently 37% of America's jobs can be done entirely at home, according to the article, and ZipRecruiter's chief economist seems to agree, predicting as much as 33% America's work days will eventually be completed from home. 'I think the numbers will gradually go up as this becomes more of an accepted norm as future generations grow up with it being so widely available, and as the technology for for doing it gets better.'
And the article notes that the ZipRecruiter economist sees another factor fueling the trend. 'Reluctant leaders aging out of the workforce will help, too, she said.'

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