The Future of Remote Work

The impact of COVID-19 on the way that we work arguably represents the most drastic and rapid shift to the global workforce that we have seen since World War II. In a matter of weeks, America’s social distancing practices and rapid economic shutdown have pushed large swaths of the workforce out of the office and into the home. In fact, a recent survey estimates that the share of remote workers in the U.S. has quadrupled to nearly 50% of the nation’s workforce.¹ While businesses and workers have been gradually shifting to remote work over time, the sudden shock of COVID-19 represents an unexpected and massive trial run for many workers and companies. This report will investigate the long term impacts of this remote work experiment and what we can anticipate in the future.