48 Curious Facts About Remote Work in 2026

What Does "Remote Work" Mean?

First of all, let's clarify what we mean when we talk about remote work and other related terms:

• Remote work: A form of employment where the employee works from home (or any place convenient for them) instead of the office or another traditional workplace provided by the employer.
• Hybrid work: Implies partially remote work, in which the employee performs part of their duties remotely and part directly at the workplace.
• Fully remote work: Activity performed exclusively from home, in which the employee is not provided with an office or another space to do the work.
• Telework: A slightly outdated term for remote work, implying that employees work from home rather than commuting to the office.

How Many People Work Remotely?

Despite the growing share of remote work, most employees still perform their duties at a traditional workplace.

1. About 39% of workers in the US have jobs that can be done remotely (Pew Research, 2023).
2. Only about 14% of Americans have fully remote jobs (Pew Research, 2023)
3. Globally, 28% of employees work from home most of the time (Statista, 2024).

4. Hybrid work currently leads among remote arrangements — 41% of employees with jobs that can be done remotely combine them with trips to the office, while 35% do them fully remotely (Pew Research, 2023).
5. 65% of people who could work from home full-time still commute to work — either by their own choice or because their employer does not encourage "remote" work (Pew Research, 2023)

Who Works "Remotely"?

Remote work is a reality for a growing number of employees, but some still prefer to come to the office and gossip by the coffee machine.

6. Women usually like remote work more: 72% of them said they enjoy working from home, compared with 67% of men (Positive, 2022).
7. Only about a quarter (27%) of Gen Z workers choose remote work, while about half (40%) of the older generation prefer not to work in the office (Statista, 2023).
8. 41% of employees choose fully remote work, while 37% are willing to combine home and office (Owl Labs, 2023)
9. 34% of employees with a hybrid work schedule would switch to fully remote if they had the opportunity (Pew Research, 2023)

What Jobs Can Be Done Remotely?

Alas, not every job can be done remotely — you cannot pave a road without getting off the couch. Some fields of activity are far better suited to remote work than others.

10. Top 5 industries for working fully remotely:
    • Finance and insurance
    • Information technology
    • Arts and entertainment
    • Professional and business services
    • Wholesale trade

(WFH Research, 2024)

11. But if we also account for hybrid workplaces, then information technology will take first place on this list (WFH Research, 2024)

12. Today there are 1,445 companies worldwide that either operate fully remotely or offer remote work by choice (Buildremote, 2024)
13. Remote work is most common in higher-paying positions: about 10% of job openings with an annual salary of around $60,000 offer the possibility of remote work, whereas the share of openings with an annual salary of around $200,000 is 30% (Harvard Business Review, 2023)
14. Remote work pays on average $29 per hour — or about $61,100 a year (ZipRecruiter, 2024)

15. The 5 largest fully remote companies include:
    • eXp Realty (Real estate)
    • Nagarro (Software)
    • Crossover (Recruitment)
    • Deliverr (E-commerce)
    • FireEye (Cybersecurity)

(Buildremote, 2024)

Where Do People Most Often Work Remotely?

Remote work is an international phenomenon: anyone with an internet connection can potentially work while sitting at home on the couch. But it is the countries of the Global North that lead the way in this area.

16. Top 10 countries with the most remote workers:
    • Canada
    • United Kingdom
    • United States
    • Australia
    • Germany
    • Netherlands
    • New Zealand
    • Chile
    • Finland
    • Brazil

(WFH Research, 2024)

17. Top 5 US states with the most remote workers:
    • California
    • Texas
    • New York
    • Florida
    • Pennsylvania

(Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024)

18. Top 5 US states with the highest percentage of "remote" workers:
    • Colorado (31.7%)
    • Massachusetts (29.4%)
    • Washington (28.5%)
    • Maryland (27.9%)
    • Virginia (27.3%)

(Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024)

19. Top 5 best US cities for remote work:
    • Miami, Florida
    • Atlanta, Georgia
    • Fort Lauderdale, Florida
    • Washington, D.C.
    • Tampa, Florida

(Buildremote, 2024)

Technology and Remote Work

Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation are helping some workers switch fully to remote work. Smart robots may not take our jobs away, but they will leave quite a few landlords without rental income from office space.

20. It is projected that by 2030 the number of remote jobs will increase by 25%, mainly due to the development of artificial intelligence technologies (World Economic Forum, 2024)
21. 51% of remote employees believe AI will replace at least part of their job, but so do 50% of those who work in the office (ADP Research, 2024)

22. Some industries will be affected more than others — almost half (40%) of the jobs expected to become fully remote because of AI are in accounting, law, and finance (World Economic Forum, 2024)
23. Jobs that require a university education are more likely to be remote — and the most subject to change: 35% of them are at risk of being fully replaced by AI, while 52% will be augmented by AI (Statistics Canada, 2024)
24. The remote jobs most likely to be replaced by artificial intelligence:
    • Telemarketing
    • Accounting
    • Proofreading

(Hubspot, 2024)

25. The remote jobs most protected from AI's impact:
    • Writing and editing
    • Software development
    • Graphic design

(Hubspot, 2024)

26. AI poses a heightened risk to remote work, since it will affect intellectual labor more than manual labor (Statistics Canada, 2024)

27. The most common digital tools for remote work:
    • Zoom
    • Microsoft Teams
    • Skype
    • Google Hangouts
    • Slack

(Statista, 2023)

28. 3 out of 4 (78%) employers use software to monitor remote employees (ExpressVPN, 2023)
29. Only two-thirds of workers believe they are being monitored during remote work, which means many are being watched but do not even suspect it (ExpressVPN, 2023)

Remote Work and Marketing Professions

Marketing is one of the main industries undergoing a revolution in the remote-work market. The ad campaign that convinced you to buy a new smartphone? It was most likely created at someone's kitchen table.

30. About one in four (26.7%) positions in marketing involve a remote or hybrid work arrangement (Hiring Lab, 2023).
31. In the US, only 12.8% of digital marketing job openings are designed for remote work (Glassdoor, 2024)

32. In Canada, the world capital of remote work, 37.2% of digital marketing job openings offer remote work (Glassdoor, 2024)
33. The likelihood of remote work in marketing is 51% higher than in other categories (LinkedIn, 2022)
34. The 3 fastest-growing remote professions in marketing:
    • Graphic design
    • Copywriting
    • Social media

(FlexJobs, 2024)

35. Increasingly, SEO specialists work from home: about 60% of SEO specialist job openings offer remote work (SEOJobs, 2024)

Benefits of Remote Work for Employees

People work from home not because they dislike the bright office lights — remote work brings real benefits.

36. Employees who work in a hybrid mode consider work-life balance the biggest benefit of remote work (78%), followed by the ability to use their time more efficiently (64%) and a reduced risk of burnout (61%) (Gallup, 2024)
37. Most remote workers (78%) say that working from home has improved their well-being (Cisco, 2022)
38. More than half of those who work partly from home and partly in the office (58%) claim that remote work increases their productivity (Gallup, 2024)
39. About half of remote workers (56%) are confident that working from home helps them better handle their duties and meet deadlines (Pew Research, 2023)

40. Remote workers save about $8,000 a year by not coming to the office — mainly thanks to not having to commute and being able to eat lunch at home (Cisco, 2022)
41. Skipping commutes saves remote workers in the US about 55 minutes a day — a total of about 238 hours a year (National Bureau of Economic Research, 2023)
42. There is a price to pay for these benefits — remote employees are 31% less likely to get a promotion and 35% more likely to be laid off (Live Data Technologies, 2023)

Benefits of Remote Work for Employers

Remote work is a great solution for workers, but employers benefit from it too — and not just because it spares them office conflicts.

43. Companies save about $10,000 a year on real estate rent for each fully remote employee (Global Workplace Analytics)
44. Indirect cost savings for employers offering remote work include employee retention, increased productivity, and a reduction in sick days (Global Workplace Analytics)
45. Remote work can be viewed as a perk for the company — 29% of remote and hybrid workers say they would expect a salary increase if they had to work in the office (Owl Labs, 2023)
46. The option of remote work reduces staff turnover by 33% (Nature, 2024)
47. Remote work increases employee retention: 37% of hybrid and remote employees said they would quit or look for another job if they had to return to the office full-time (Owl Labs, 2023)
48. 77% of remote employees report higher job satisfaction compared with 40% of on-site employees, which is 63% higher (Future Skills Centre, 2023)