An official website of the United States government
United States Department of Labor
United States Department of Labor
The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information,
make sure you're on a federal government site.
The site is secure.
The
https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any
information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.
Productivity Research and Program Development
SHARE ON:
Estimated effects of switch to remote work in covid era on productivity by industry
Sabrina Wulff Pabilonia and Jill Janocha Redmond examine "The rise in remote work since the pandemic and its impact on productivity" in a new Beyond the Numbers article published in October 2024.
Key takeaways are:
Remote work rose in all 61 industries in the private business sector from 2019 to 2021, with four industries having over half of their workers primarily working from home.
- During the COVID-19 pandemic, total factor productivity grew faster in industries that experienced larger increases in remote work.
- Accounting for pre-pandemic trends slightly dampens the magnitude of the associations, but they are still positive and statistically significant.
- Industries that had larger increases in the percentage of remote workers had slower growth in unit labor and nonlabor costs, especially unit capital costs.
- Remote work allowed many businesses to downsize their office footprints.
- Productivity gains following the surge in remote work from 2019 to 2022 did not lead to an increase in hourly compensation.