The Future of Remote Work for 2025 and Beyond
Last week, I checked in with a web developer we hired in early 2020, just before the global pandemic brought the world to a standstill. A few months into his tenure, his team went fully remote, and he adjusted to working from home five days a week, an arrangement that lasted for several years.
As of mid-2024, though, he was back in the office a mandated four days a week, with five days being the preferred option. He said he was back on the market for new opportunities thanks to this rigid policy.
Sound familiar?
In just five years, remote work has boomeranged from a once-in-a-while perk to an everyday norm and back again. Remote and hybrid roles have become highly desirable among employees who want more freedom and flexibility, but will these working arrangements stand the test of time? What’s ahead for remote work?
We’ll use the most recent research to explore the current status and future of remote work. As companies evolve, adapt, and compete in a market that looks quite different from the one that existed at the start of the remote work boom, we’ll examine the current status and future of remote work.
The Current Remote Work Landscape
The number of people working remotely has risen and fallen in waves over the last half-decade, initially dictated by COVID-19 case levels and then by shifting company policies. So, what will the remote landscape look like in 2025?
Remote work is not dead
Contrary to what the back-to-the-office headlines might have you believe, remote work isn’t a thing of the past–far from it. One of the most up-to-date studies from Owl Labs of remote and hybrid work found that fully remote positions grew in 2024. Eleven percent of employees were fully remote, up from 7% in 2023.
Twenty-seven percent of employees work in a hybrid format, about the same as in 2023. For those working hybrid, three days per week was the most common frequency for working in the office.
Companies struggle with push and pull
Companies can tell workers to come back to the office, but as it turns out, workers don’t have to listen. In an October 2024 survey of 700 business leaders, three out of four said they were having trouble enforcing mandatory return-to-office policies because workers were refusing to comply.
When skills shortages are challenging hiring and retention in many industries, organizations must grapple with imposing policies that could cost them critical talent.
Some of the best data we have on the remote work landscape comes from McKinsey, which surveyed more than 25,000 people about their work situations. Fifty-eight percent of Americans said they have the opportunity to work from home at least one day a week, while 35% said they could work from home full-time. In total, 87% of the workforce can work from home one or more days per week.
These numbers are notable for the obvious reason that they represent a massive shift from pre-COVID. But they’re also noteworthy due to the type of workers covered. These are not just primarily people in digital jobs like IT and business but also those in fields like maintenance and healthcare, where being onsite was once considered a requirement.
Younger, more educated, and higher-earning workers tend to have more options to work remotely. People in computer and mathematical jobs have the highest prevalence of working from home, while those in production and protective services jobs have the lowest.
What We’ve Learned About Remote Work
After observing remote workers on a broad scale for more than four years, researchers have found that remote and hybrid work has implications for workers and their employers in several key areas.
Productivity
Anecdotally, I’ve heard from countless candidates that they feel more productive when they’re working from home. But are they really? The data over the past four years has been mixed, but a new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (basically the be-all, end-all of workforce metrics) has some interesting findings.
It shows that among the top 10 industries that experienced the biggest increase in remote work over the last few years, most increased output without a corresponding increase in labor. In layman’s terms, more work was done without hiring more people. Data processing and internet publishing saw the most significant output gains.
Cost
Hybrid and remote work come with financial implications for both employers and employees.
Companies that have embraced remote and hybrid work have experienced significant cost savings on office space and utilities but have incurred new expenses on things like technology and hardware for offsite workers. As of 2025, we’re beginning to see the impact of a new expense: increased salaries from workers who want to be paid more to be in the office full-time.
On the employee side, working from home is simply cheaper than in the office. There are no commuting costs and fewer impulse purchases on things like takeout for lunch, and after-work outings aren’t as common. Hybrid workers save an average of $42 a day when they work from home.
Preferences
Since remote work became the norm, workers’ expectations surrounding it have increased. Sixty-five percent of workers now say location flexibility is a must when choosing a new job. For millennials, that number is an even higher 70% (and remember, they’re currently the largest segment of the workforce).
Though salary is still the most important factor across age groups when job searching, workers are more willing to budge on it if it means they’ll be able to work from home at least some of the time. Half of workers surveyed said they would take a pay cut of 5% or more if it meant having the freedom to choose where they work. Two percent said they’d give up 20% of their salary for the benefit.
These numbers make one thing abundantly clear: the majority of workers, especially younger ones, want to work remotely or hybrid, and if their employer doesn’t allow the option, they’re more than willing to look elsewhere for a job. So, if you feel like remote work should be the norm rather than the exception, you’re in good company.
What’s Next for Remote Work?
If employers want to meet the demands of a changing workforce–which they should–they’ll need to make some paradigm shifts in a few key areas. Here are the aspects of work we anticipate will evolve in new ways over the next several years.
Companies continue to explore their options.
Adopting remote work has been a fundamental shift for the modern workforce, and companies are still trying to figure out the best way to handle it. You’re not alone if your company is experimenting with different models and policies.
Our clients have tried everything from fully remote to fully onsite and everything in between over the past 24 months. One in four workers nationwide say their company changed its remote or hybrid work policy last year.
Companies like GitLab and Zapier have embraced remote-first models, leveraging technology to maintain connectivity and collaboration without physical office spaces. Many organizations, including tech giants like Google and Microsoft, have opted for hybrid models where employees split their time between home and office. This approach balances flexibility and the collaborative benefits of in-person interactions. Some companies, most notably Amazon, have returned to pre-pandemic norms and are requiring workers to be onsite five days a week. Productivity and culture preservation are key reasons these organizations cite for their decision.
Each model presents unique challenges. Fully remote teams may struggle with fostering camaraderie and maintaining company culture, hybrid teams face logistical hurdles with scheduling and equity, and fully in-office firms risk alienating workers who value flexibility. We’ll see companies continue to navigate and adapt to these challenges in the year ahead.
‘Green flag’ managers prioritize their teams
As organizations decide what type of work to allow, a new trend is emerging: “green flag” managers who are willing to ignore corporate policy to make their employees happy. These managers recognize that employee well-being is closely linked to productivity and are willing to bend or overlook strict mandates to keep their teams engaged.
Green-flag managers may:
- Allow employees to work remotely more often than company policy dictates
- Advocate for flexible hours to accommodate employees’ personal responsibilities and needs
- Focus on output and results rather than keeping tabs on hours workers or physical presence
This leadership style can foster trust and loyalty, particularly when employees increasingly expect their employers to support work-life balance. Green-flag managers help retain top talent and boost morale despite stricter organizational policies by putting workers first.
Employee tracking is on the rise
For better or worse, more employers are turning to tracking technology to monitor employees’ productivity and ensure compliance with onsite work policies. Forty-six percent of workers said their company added or increased the use of activity monitoring software in the last year.
These tools can measure metrics like the amount of time spent on specific tasks, the amount of time certain applications were used, email and communication patterns, office attendance/badge swipes, and more.
While proponents argue that tracking improves accountability and optimizes workflows, there are obviously some significant implications for employee trust, not to mention security concerns. Excessive monitoring can make team members feel micromanaged, leading to resentment and apathy. Tracking technologies introduce a new set of questions about data collection and employee rights surrounding privacy.
To implement tracking effectively, companies must balance oversight and autonomy. Transparency is key; workers should understand in no uncertain terms how and why tracking is used and what’s being done to protect the resulting data.
Related: How to Increase Working From Home Productivity
Employee demands grow
The pandemic gave employees a taste of the flexibility and freedom remote work can offer, and many are unwilling to give it up. As a result, worker expectations are shifting, with top talent demanding greater control over when, where, and how they work.
If they can’t have that, they want more money to compensate. Twenty-two percent of workers say they would expect a pay increase if they could no longer work hybrid or remote. Forty percent say they’d look for a new job that offered more flexibility if asked to return to the office five days a week.
To attract and retain top talent moving forward, businesses must adapt to these changing expectations. Strategies to do so include offering flexible work arrangements as a standard benefit, providing stipends for commuting expenses, and promoting a culture prioritizing work-life balance over meeting an arbitrary requirement for hours spent in the office each week.
As companies continue to navigate the complexities of remote work, no one-size-fits-all approach will work for all organizations. Businesses that want to build excellent workforces must tailor work environments and policies to individual and team needs. By experimenting with different models and being willing to pivot if necessary, organizations can create productive and fulfilling workplaces for employees to be part of.
Related: Tips on How to Successfully Work Remotely
