Statistics from the Census Bureau show that the number of Americans working from home has hit a new low since COVID-19 began.
The Bureau's most recent Household Pulse Survey, conducted between September 20 and October 2, found that only about 26% of families had at least one person working remotely at least once every week, as reported by Business Insider.
It seems that companies' efforts to get Americans back to the workplace are paying off.
Lowest Level Since Outbreak
Although 37% of American households had at least one member working remotely in early 2021, the most recent polls from the Census Bureau show that number has dropped significantly to less than 26%.
This turnaround is a result of persistent efforts by numerous companies to bring their employees back to the office, according to Bloomberg. Employees who work from home have been blamed for a drop in earnings and billions of dollars in lost revenue for cities, and their capacity to demand the benefits they earned at the outbreak's outset when the labor market was in their favor has weakened due to recessionary anxieties.
However, even if some businesses are anticipating a return to a five-day workweek, there is still enough conflict in the boardroom. Almost three-quarters of businesses name return-to-office (RTO) as the issue most likely to spark leadership disputes.
According to the statistics, the percentage of people working from home across all 50 states has decreased from its pandemic high. A variety of factors, including migration, socioeconomic status, gender, race, and possibly politics, may be responsible for the divergent rates of decline noticed across the states.
This diversity is illustrated by the fact that Mississippi and Louisiana, which relied on manufacturing, saw their remote-work rates drop by as much as half, while states like California and Connecticut, which are more associated with the white-collar sector, saw their rates rise.
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In Favor of Remote Work Setup
Although many businesses still favor employees coming into the office each day, others insist that remote workers provide better results.
Dropbox, which promotes itself as "remote-first," allocates 90% of its annual time to remote work, while 10% is used for employee off-site activities, as CEO Drew Houston recently told Fortune. "If you trust people and treat them like adults, they'll behave like adults. Trust over surveillance," he stated.
Workers are leaving their current employers in protest of mandatory RTO policies. Because it is so difficult to locate a new job that will enable them to work from home, some individuals stay in remote positions that they do not like.
According to Business Insider, statistics suggest that those who work from home are more likely to have advanced degrees, make more money, and are ready to accept a salary decrease if it means never having to return to the office.
