Among industries with the largest increases in remote work most had substantial increases in output

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about dramatic changes in the work environment. Although 6.5 percent of workers in the private business sector worked primarily from home in 2019, the pandemic was the start of a massive experiment in full-time remote work for most workers and firms. Among 61 industries, 10 had increases in remote work of 20 percentage points or more.

Of these 10 industries, output and labor input (a measure of hours worked adjusted for differences in the age, education, and sex composition of the workforce) varied over the 2019–22 period.

The three industries with the largest increases in remote work (computer systems design and related services; publishing industries, except internet [includes software]; and data processing, internet publishing, and other information services) had large increases in output and labor input, with output rising much faster than labor input. Another 4 of the top 10 industries (securities, commodity contracts, and other financial investments and related activities; management of companies and enterprises; broadcasting and telecommunications; and miscellaneous professional, scientific, and technical services) also had substantial output growth, but either small, positive labor input growth or a small decline.

The remaining three industries had labor input growing faster than output. Thus, most of the industries that experienced substantial increases in the percentage of remote workers were able to enhance output during this time without a corresponding increase in labor.

These data are from the Productivity program. To learn more about remote work and productivity, see “The rise in remote work since the pandemic and its impact on productivity” in Beyond the Numbers. For additional information, visit our productivity and remote work page.