Remote working here to stay?

Many companies have mandated a return to either full time or hybrid in-office work with varying degrees of success. Below are some interesting stats I received from Exec Thread CEO, Joe Myer that appear to indicate that remote working will continue to make up a big chunk of the workforce going forward.

The findings of a few interesting studies were released this week:

• Based on data from security firm Kastle Systems, NYC offices were 48% full by the wk of 10/10, the fullest since March ‘20, and avg occupancy hit 49% across 10 cities, also a post-pandemic high.
• According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Americans are saving a combined 60+ million hours per day in commuting time by working from home.
• 30% of all employees now WFH on a hybrid basis while 15% do so full time, and of those who do young workers are socializing and going out more, and older Americans have more time for chores & childcare – and all are getting more sleep (an hour extra per day).
• A study by PLOS Medicine said adults 50+ years old who sleep <5 hours per night are more likely to develop multiple chronic diseases, vs. people of the same age who sleep 7 hours per night.

So what’s the main takeaway from these three recent studies?

While more people are heading into the office its still <50%, and working from home/remotely and hybrid work schedules are here to stay for the other 50% of us.

And for those who do have the flexibility to WFH full-time or a few days a week, our quality of life is high as we’re making very good use of the time to get more rest, to get out more, and to be more productive.