45% of Jobs Can Be Done Remotely

Merging data from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET), National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) round 16, and American Time Use Survey (ATUS) shows that an estimated 45% of jobs (~67MM based on number of employed citizens) in the US can be done remotely. However, prior to the pandemic only 10% of workers who could work remotely actually did (the takeup rate).

Read Ability to work from home: evidence from two surveys and implications for the labor market in the COVID-19 pandemic from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

See also:

• Of those who did work remotely two-thirds want to continue to work remotely
• This also shows 55% of jobs can’t be done remotely which may correlate with the inequality of remote work
• COVID-19 changed the takeup rate significantly, 18.3 of workers ‘telecommuted’ in April 2021 according the May Employment Situation Summary

Links to this note

• 35% of American Workers Have the Option to Work Remotely Full Time

  According to a recent survey from McKinsey & Company, American workers say they have the option to work part time or full time from home (58% and 35% respectively). That’s roughly 55 million people in the US.

• 20% of US Workers Are Expected to Work from Home Permanently

  While just 5% of the workforce in the US worked from home prior to the pandemic, 20% are expected to work from home permanently.

• The Jump to Remote Work Universality

  Remote work has not yet made the jump to universality. We’re still in the phase of “specialized work objects” which are a combination technology to perform the work, jobs that can be performed remotely, and businesses that can operate anywhere.

• 76% Percent Will Quit If Flexible Work Goes Away

  A survey by Greenhouse found that 76% of workers would look for another job if their company rolled back flexible work policies. It also found that 42% of job candidates won’t apply if their preferred working method isn’t available (hybrid, remote, etc.).

• § What Is the Market Value of Working Remote?

  We can come up with a valuation of remote work by looking at a few signals: what you would forgo, what do you gain, what others gain, and what others lose.

• Remote Jobs Rose to Nearly 15 Percent of All High-Paying Job Listings

  An analysis by Ladders found that the percentage of high-paying job listings ($80,000+) in the US and Canada that were remote increased from 3.69% in Q4 2019 to 14.67% in Q3 2021.

• 4.3 Million People Quit Their Job in August 2021

  The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that 4.3 MM Americans quit their jobs in August 2021, up from 4MM in July. The quit rate is highest it’s been since the statistic became available in 2000.

• Remote Work Is a Supply Side Problem

  There has always been strong demand for remote work and it wasn’t until the global COVID-19 pandemic that the supply side (employers) briefly caught up.

• Not Having to Commute for Five Hours Is Equivalent to a 10 Percent Raise

  In 2019, Americans spent an average of 55.2 minutes per day commuting. During the COVID-19 pandemic, remote workers have completely eliminated morning commutes which is like a 10% raise (or higher if you are like 10% of Americans that commute two hours per day). The monetary value of saved commuting time would be equivalent to the largest tax cuts for the middle class ever.