Telework (CPS) : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Bureau of Labor Statistics > Current Population Survey > Home

Telework or work at home for pay

BLS added new questions to the Current Population Survey (CPS) starting in October 2022 that focus on telework or work at home for pay. These questions ask whether people had teleworked or worked at home for pay in the survey reference week and the number of hours teleworked. In our analyses, telework or work at home for pay is frequently referred to simply as "telework."

From October 2022 to November 2023 questions asked whether people had teleworked in February 2020, before COVID-19 pandemic started. These questions have been discontinued.

Data tables
Concepts and questions
See also: Highlights of data on telework (August 2023)
See also: Other data sources

Data tables (XLSX)

The monthly estimates presented in these tables are not seasonally adjusted and are for the nation as a whole. (Tabulations by state are not available.) See the concepts for an explanation of these measures and learn more about the questions that are the source of these data.

Tables for latest month
Tables for 2024: Jan Feb Mar — — — — — — — — —
Tables for 2023: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Tables for 2022: — — — — — — — — — Oct Nov Dec

Tables provide the number and percent of people teleworking by demographic characteristics (table 1) and job characteristics (table 2), average hours teleworked (tables 3, 4, 5, and 6), the distribution of hours teleworked (tables 7 and 8).

Tables 9 through 11 provide estimates of telework in the current month compared with February 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic. These tables have been discontinued. The November 2023 data that appear in tables 9 through 11 are the latest available.

Charts

Data availability

New monthly data tables will be posted on this page as they become available. Variables for these questions are available in public use microdata files from the Census Bureau.

Concepts and questions

Telework or work at home for pay

People who telework are those who indicated they teleworked or worked at home for pay at any time during the survey reference week. The telework question is asked about people who were employed and at work in the survey reference week, which is generally the calendar week that contains the 12th day of the month. It is not asked about people who were employed but not at work due to vacation, illness, or other reasons. The term "at work" does not refer to where people work, but rather that people performed some work for pay or profit during the survey reference week.

Telework rate

The telework rate is the number of people who telework or work at home for pay as a percentage of those who were employed and at work during the survey reference week. The term "at work" does not refer to where people work, but rather that people performed some work for pay or profit during the survey reference week.

Hours teleworked

People who teleworked or worked at home for pay during the survey reference week are asked how many of the total hours they worked during the week were hours they teleworked or worked at home for pay.

Telework in February 2020

The CPS did not measure telework in February 2020, before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. To measure changes in the prevalence of telework, two questions were added to the survey in October 2022 that retrospectively ask people about telework or work at home for pay in February 2020. These two questions were asked each month from October 2022 through November 2023.

From October 2022 through November 2023, all people who worked in the survey reference week were asked if they had teleworked or worked at home for pay in February 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic started. Data collected about telework or work at home in February 2020 are thus limited only to those who worked in the current month and must be interpreted in this context.

These data do not represent all people who teleworked in February 2020 (before the COVID-19 pandemic). Only people who worked during the survey reference week in the current month were asked about telework in February 2020. These estimates exclude people who were not employed in the current month and employed people who had a job but did not work during the survey reference week.

Demographic and job characteristics in the telework tables refer to the period when the interview took place and may not reflect a person’s characteristics in February 2020. As an example, a person who was 25 years old in February 2023 who had teleworked in February 2020 would be reported on table 10 as "teleworked in February 2020, ages 25 to 34 years," although this person would only have been 22 years old in February 2020. As another example, someone working as a carpenter at the time of the survey may have been working as a teacher in February 2020.

Telework now compared with February 2020

From October 2022 through November 2023, all people who worked in the survey reference week were asked if they had teleworked or worked at home for pay in February 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic started. People who reported teleworking in both the current month and in February 2020 were asked if they did more, less, or the same amount of telework or work at home for pay as in February 2020 (before the COVID-19 pandemic).

The BLS analysis of the comparison of telework in the current month and in February 2020 includes more than just people who teleworked in both periods and answered the direct question about whether they telworked more, less, or about the same. In the BLS analysis, people who did not telework in February 2020 but teleworked in the current month are counted as having done more telework in the current month. Similarly, people who do not telework in the current month but did telework in February 2020 are counted as having done less telework in the current month. (These two groups are shown separately in the tables, along with people who teleworked in both periods and answered the direct question about whether they teleworked more, less, or about the same.)

Multiple jobholders

A relatively small share of workers have more than one job. The telework question asks about any telework or work at home for pay; it does not distinguish between the main and second job (or other jobs) of multiple jobholders. Likewise, the question on hours teleworked asks how many hours the person teleworked or worked at home for pay. Telework hours are not separately identified for the main and second job (or other jobs) of multiple jobholders.

Thus, the survey can identify that multiple jobholders teleworked (and the number of hours), but not the job to which the telework applies. BLS telework tables that report occupation, industry, and class of worker refer to the characteristic of the main job for multiple jobholders.

What questions are used to measure telework or work at home for pay?

Beginning in October 2022, these questions appear at the end of the basic monthly labor force questions:

Introduction. I now have some questions related to how the COVID-19 pandemic affected where people work.

Beginning in December 2023, the introduction was changed to:

Introduction. I now have some questions related to where people work.

(Asked about all people who worked last week)

Q1. At any time LAST WEEK, did you telework or work at home for pay?

Yes
No (go to Q3)

(Asked about all people who teleworked or worked at home last week)

Q2. Last week, you worked [fill: person’s total hours worked last week] hours [fill for multiple jobholders: total, at all jobs]. How many of these hours did you telework or work at home for pay?

_______ hours

(Asked about all people who worked last week) (Question discontinued after November 2023)

Q3. Did you telework or work at home for pay in February 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic started?

Yes (If Q1 = Yes, go to Q4)
No

(Asked about all people who teleworked or worked at home both last week and in February 2020) (Question discontinued after November 2023)

Q4. LAST WEEK, did you do more, less, or the same amount of telework or work at home for pay as in February 2020 (before the COVID-19 pandemic)?

More
Less
About the same

Last Modified Date: March 15, 2024