Is a Home Office Actually More Productive? Some Workers Think So.
6 min read 
Some Americans have a new outlook on remote working: They prefer it.
In June and July, a group of 1,388 people working from home were asked for their impressions of the experience by workplace consulting firm Global Workplace Analytics and video technology company Owl Labs.
The new arrangement, it turns out, suited many of them.
While roughly 27% said they would have considered such a setup to be ideal before the coronavirus pandemic started, 80% said they would like to continue working remotely for three days of the week or more once the pandemic is over. Many of these people said they would prefer remote work all five days of the workweek.
U.S. work-from-home preferences, among people working from home during Covid-19
One to four days per week
U.S. work-from-home preferences, among
people working from home during Covid-19
One to four days per week
U.S. work-from-home preferences, among
people working from home during Covid-19
One to four
days per week
U.S. work-from-home preferences, among
people working from home during Covid-19
One to four days per week
Another set of 10,000 employees surveyed by the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics at the University of Chicago say they felt the work-from-home situation was either just as productive or more so than the office. Some told the researchers that home was 30% more productive.
“On average, workers and employers have been pleasantly surprised by productivity when working from home,” says Steven Davis, one of the study authors and a University of Chicago business and economics professor. “Reality exceeded expectations.”
Has WFH met your expectations?
Is WFH more efficient than the office?
Has WFH met your expectations?
Is WFH more efficient than the office?
Has WFH met your expectations?
Is WFH more efficient than the office?
Is WFH more efficient than the office?
Has WFH met your expectations?
The end of 9-to-5
The many changes imposed by the pandemic are acting as another challenge to the 9-to-5 workday model, which was already under threat before the pandemic. In 2019, more than 87% of full-time U.S. employees averaged eight-and-a-half hours per workday, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
By last June and July, a group of 2,025 full-time workers who worked remotely and non remotely told Global Workplace Analytics and Owl Labs that they were working more during Covid-19.
How much more? An average of 26 extra hours a month, according to the survey. Another estimate, from New York University Stern School of Business doctoral student Michael Impink, shows average daily work hours increasing 8-15%, depending on the day of the week. He examined data from more than 3.4 million workers, counting the time from their first daily work correspondence to their last.
Not everyone clocked more time at home. More than 40% of employees surveyed by Global Workforce Analytics and Owl Labs said their hours stayed the same while working remotely.
How workers spent their time before Covid-19
In office everyday of week
Average
workday
span
8.3 hours
Mean
commute:
54 minutes
roundtrip
How they expect to work once the pandemic is over
Work from home several days a week
Hours increased,
depending on work day
Hours flexible
around core hours
*Increased hours April 2020 during lockdowns
Note: Average workday span (time from first to last daily correspondence)
calculated from communications metadata, based on 3.4 million users worldwide.
Sources: Michael Impink, New York University; Raffaella Sadun, Harvard Business
School (average and increased hours); Global Workplace Analytics and OwlLabs
State of Remote Work, October 2020 (flexibility); Census Bureau (commute time)
How workers spent their time before Covid-19
In office everyday of week
Mean
commute:
54 minutes
roundtrip
How they expect to work
once the pandemic is over
Work from home several days a week
Hours increased,
depending on work day
Hours flexible
around core hours
*Increased hours April 2020 during lockdowns
Note: Average workday span (time from first to last daily correspondence) calculated from communications
metadata, based on 3.4 million users worldwide.
Sources: Michael Impink, New York University; Raffaella Sadun, Harvard Business School (average and
increased hours); Global Workplace Analytics and OwlLabs State of Remote Work, October 2020 (flexibility);
Census Bureau (commute time)
How workers spent their time before Covid-19
In office everyday of week
How they expect to work
once the pandemic is over
Work from home several days a week
Hours increased,
depending on work day
Hours flexible
around core hours
*Increased hours April 2020 during lockdowns
Note: Average workday span (time from first to last daily correspondence)
calculated from communications metadata, based on 3.4 million users worldwide.
Sources: Michael Impink, New York University; Raffaella Sadun, Harvard Business School
average and increased hours); Global Workplace Analytics and OwlLabs State of Remote
Work, October 2020 (flexibility); Census Bureau (commute time)
How workers spent their
time before Covid-19
In office everyday of week
How they expect to work
once the pandemic is over
Work from home several days a week
Hours increased,
depending on work day
Hours flexible
around core hours
*Increased hours April 2020 during lockdowns
Note: Average workday span (time from first to last
daily correspondence) calculated from
communications metadata, based on 3.4 million
users worldwide.
Sources: Michael Impink, New York University;
Raffaella Sadun, Harvard Business School
average and increased hours); Global Workplace
Analytics and OwlLabs State of Remote Work,
October 2020 (flexibility); Census Bureau
(commute time)
For those who believe a home-office setup is more productive, is it because of a lack of commute or fewer office interruptions?
Mr. Davis’s study declined to offer a single explanation, saying it is “not obvious whether offices or homes have fewer distractions and more quiet time.” There are “co-workers and water coolers” in the office, while televisions and “potentially children” serve as home diversions.
The danger is that a workweek expansion could erode work-life boundaries and contribute to employee burnout.
“The traditional 9-5, Monday through Friday, has been fading for years and the pandemic just accelerated that process,” says Cali Williams Yost, chief executive and founder at workplace consulting company Flex+Strategy Group. “Individuals and teams now need to be intentional about setting up the guardrails for themselves. What that means for the individual is, we need to be more intentional about planning: what needs to get done and when and where we do it best.”
Will remote work stick?
Employers weren’t prepared for the shift to remote work. But some did make things easier by providing employees everything from stipends for home-office equipment to better videoconferencing hookups.
The largest pickup in remote work happened at employers specializing in educational services and finance, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Roughly 60% of educational services and 58% of finance companies boosted telework for at least some employees as a result of the pandemic.
Service companies in food, retail and construction were among the lowest adopters, since it is more difficult to do their work remotely. In those cases, fewer than 20% of employers increased telework.
How employers adapted to remote work
No change in existing telework
Did not telework before or during the pandemic
Management of companies and enterprises
Scheduled air transportation
Professional and technical services
Real estate and rental and leasing
Total U.S. (private sector)
Arts, entertainment and recreation
Administrative and waste services
Mining, quarrying and oil and gas
Transportation and warehousing*
Other services, except public administration
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting
Accommodation and food services
No change in existing telework
Did not telework before or during the pandemic
Management of companies and enterprises
Scheduled air transportation
Professional and technical services
Real estate and rental and leasing
Total U.S. (private sector)
Arts, entertainment and recreation
Administrative and waste services
Mining, quarrying and oil and gas
Transportation and warehousing*
Other services, except public administration
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting
Accommodation and food services
No change in existing telework
Did not telework before or during the pandemic
Management of companies and enterprises
Scheduled air transportation
Professional and technical services
Real estate and rental and leasing
Total U.S. (private sector)
Arts, entertainment and recreation
Administrative and waste services
Mining, quarrying and oil and gas
Transportation and warehousing*
Other services, except public administration
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting
Accommodation and food services
No change in existing telework
Did not telework before or
during the pandemic
Management of companies, enterprises
Scheduled air transportation
Total U.S. (private sector)
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting
Accommodation and food services
Will remote work last at the companies that embraced it in 2020? Consumer brand companies are betting the work-from-home culture is here to stay by expanding and revamping factories that make everything from coffee to casual clothes.
The key to remote-work longevity, say some observers, is whether companies can formalize guidelines so all employees are treated equally across the organization. If that happens, they say, companies and workers may benefit.
“It’s not going to be a flip of the switch,” Ms. Yost says. Instead she expects it to be a “slow recalibration to that next normal.”
—Jess Kuronen contributed to this article.
Write to Stephanie Stamm at Stephanie.Stamm@wsj.com
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