Telework

Work in the age of the COVID-19 Pandemic

In 2020, as stay-at-home orders became ubiquitous, companies had to re-think how they were going to do business. To protect their employees and customers they had to balance the need for in-person interaction with the need to control the spread of the virus. Employees who could telework, or do their jobs remotely were encouraged to do so.

Where are people able to telework globally?

The modern work environment is shifting because of the pandemic, but there are many industries where being present is non-negotiable. Police, firefighers, and healthcare workers can't work from home, and neither can truck drivers or grocery employees.

A recent study by economists Jonathan Dingel and Brent Neiman examines economies and the share of teleworking jobs. They found that lower income economies have a lower share of jobs that can be teleworked.

Explore the map below to compare GDP per capita PPP with the share of jobs that can be teleworked. Hover over a bubble to see the country name, GDP per capita PPP, and percentage of teleworking jobs. GDP per capita PPP compares the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year using a common exchange rate.

What's the state of teleworking in the US?

Did you know that as many as 42% of jobs in the United States can be teleworked? Despite that number, it’s estimated that only 37% of jobs in the United States can be done completely from home. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of jobs being teleworked was lower than that. Many companies shied away from telework because of cost of technology, corporate culture, or the worry that remote workers would not be as productive. In 2018, the American Time Use Survey found that less than 25% of all full time workers teleworked, and that those who did spent less than half of their working hours at home.

Where is teleworking possible in the US?

The map below shows US metropolitan areas where, according to the Dingel/Nieman study, teleworking is possible. Hovering over an area provides the name of the area and the share of teleworking jobs. Clicking an area will display the share of wages attributed to teleworkable jobs. It's estimated that jobs that can be teleworked account for over 46% of all US wages.

Many businesses are able to operate at normal capacity because of the ability of their employees to telework, which is good for the economy. However, because teleworking jobs generally garner a higher share of wages than non-teleworking jobs and are able to be done throughout the pandemic, income disparities continue to be exacerbated.

Will companies continue to allow workers to work from home on a more permanent basis post-pandemic? Will workers have more of a say in where they do their jobs? Time will tell.

If you find this data interesting and would like to download it, visit the study authors' GitHub repository here.