At the start of the pandemic, America was swept by a surge in remote work. Before the pandemic, just 7 percent of workers were laboring at home, a figure that peaked at nearly 42 percent mid-pandemic. By 2025, it is estimated that 22 percent of workers will be at home, more than three times where we were just a year ago. Other estimates show that moving forward, as many as a third of all workers will be remote in the post-pandemic world of work.
Over the past year, business leaders were enthusiastic about remote work. So enthusiastic, in fact, that we saw regular announcements from companies across the country expression intent to expand telework options moving forward. Employees seemed to agree that distributed work — at least part-time — should be the new standard.
Today, some of the air has come out of the balloon. Employees around the world have sustained their interest in prolonged remote work, but executives seem to now be adopting a more cautious attitude. At the beginning of the pandemic, a survey of executives by KPMG found that 69 percent of companies intended to reduce their real-estate footprint and expand remote work programs. That same survey conducted again this past month found that just 17 percent of executives said they planned to do so, and only 30 percent are planning to extend existing remote work programs. This will be good for central business districts as employees return to offices, but will come as a disappointment to those workers who feel they have flourished in the flexibility and comfort afforded by remote work. Why the sudden change of heart?
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