Remote employees have quietly discovered a significant work advantage: earning 12% more than their office-based colleagues, according to a Federal Reserve study.
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The article is by Sasha Rogelberg, a reporter for Fortune.
New data from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco reveals that remote and hybrid employees earn more than their office-based colleagues.
Harvard University Study
Late last year, a study led by Harvard University revealed the lengths to which remote workers were willing to go to continue working from the comfort of their homes: participants were willing, on average, to give up 25% of their total compensation for the same position, but with the option of working remotely part-time or full-time, instead of working in the office.
New research from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco suggests the opposite is happening, at least for some workers. Employees who work from home are earning more than their office-based colleagues.
A recent study published by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco analyzed data from nearly 25,000 French employees using the French Labor Force Survey, as well as company-level data and social security records, to examine which jobs offered flexible options, their compensation, and the demographics of the workers.
They Earned 12% More
Researchers found that employees who work from home, at least part of the time, earned, on average, 12% more per hour than those who work entirely on-site. Approximately half of this increase was correlated with education level, gender, and age. Even when controlling for these variables, researchers observed a pay gap of around 6%, with remote workers receiving what the researchers call a teleworking premium.
The study noted that both France and the United States have similar levels of employees working from home, and both countries offer more remote work opportunities for higher-paid, more educated employees.
“Using French administrative data and controlling for a broad set of worker and company characteristics, we found that workers who work from home earn higher hourly wages than those who do not,” the researchers stated.
The debate has continued after the pandemic.
Even with the pandemic nearly six years behind us, the debate over remote work has continued, as large companies—including Stellantis and Home Depot last month—asked their employees to return to the office five days a week. Nearly 65% of workers said their offices offer some form of hybrid work, according to Zoom data.
The trend toward flexible work appears to be here to stay: The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) found that millennial and Gen Z bosses are more likely to allow their employees to work from home compared to bosses from older generations, creating an even greater need for future-of-work experts to better understand what makes it so appealing in an ever-evolving job market.
Explaining the Pay Premium for Remote Work
It’s important to note that employees who work remotely don’t magically earn more simply by working from home. The San Francisco Federal Reserve study indicated that nearly half of the 12% pay increase for hybrid workers was due to certain demographic factors, such as age, gender, and tenure. For example, older workers in higher positions earned higher salaries.
That additional 6% in pay premiums could be bad news for Gen Z workers seeking flexibility early in their careers. The study revealed that remote employees who received higher salaries held better-paying positions before the pandemic, in addition to having unobservable advantages, such as increased productivity and negotiation skills that allowed them to secure better working conditions.
Taken together, the data suggests that higher pay for more flexible work isn’t because remote employees have demonstrated to their managers that their remote work practices or productivity justify a higher salary. Rather, they indicate that employees with greater seniority and bargaining power—who already earned higher wages—were more successful in negotiating with their employers for more flexible work arrangements.
“Workers who are working from home after the pandemic were already earning higher wages before remote work became widespread,”
the researchers wrote in a blog post published Tuesday. “The most productive workers or those with better negotiation skills are more likely to secure both higher hourly wages and the right to work from home.”
What does this mean for the future of remote work?
The San Francisco Federal Reserve study suggests that its findings support a key argument among experts on the future of work: “Our findings are consistent with evidence from case studies showing that companies offering remote work disproportionately attract more highly educated and experienced workers,” the researchers wrote.
In fact, a 2024 study led by Nick Bloom, a remote work expert and economist at Stanford, revealed that among 1,614 employees at a Chinese tech company who worked between 2021 and 2022, hybrid work increased job satisfaction and reduced the turnover rate by a third. The results were especially positive for commuters, as well as for women, who consider flexible work a crucial benefit since they shoulder the majority of childcare responsibilities.
The fact that higher-paid and longer-tenured employees are the ones benefiting from flexible work is another sign that hybrid work is here to stay. This isn’t just a consequence of Generation Z’s preference for flexible work, but also of companies’ potential desire to avoid losing their top talent. A 2025 Pew Research report revealed that nearly half of workers said they would be unlikely to stay in their jobs if their boss no longer allowed them to work from home occasionally.
More than 53 statistics and trends on remote work for 2026
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The business world has been at a standstill for the past two years, marked by back-to-the-office mandates, but now companies are struggling to implement them.
Office attendance has barely changed since 2023; the pressure from above for physical presence is failing to overcome the structural shift toward flexible work.
As we enter 2026, the debate has shifted from whether remote work is here to stay to how to optimize hybrid models to improve profitability, safety, and company culture.
In this article, we’ll analyze statistics on remote work that will help you better understand the return-to-office landscape and organize your team with a strategy based on real data, not arbitrary orders.
Key findings:
Approximately 34.6 million employed people in the U.S. were working remotely in August 2025, demonstrating that this represents a massive segment of the workforce.
The rate of teleworking in the US has stabilized, fluctuating steadily between 17.9% and 23.8% from late 2022 to early 2025.
Nearly 80% of employees whose jobs can be performed remotely are working in a hybrid (52%) or fully remote (26%) model by early 2025.
Only 30% of companies plan to completely eliminate teleworking by 2026.
83% of global CEOs anticipate a return to full-time in-office work by 2027, reflecting a strong leadership push toward physical presence.
66% of professionals say they would be willing to go to the office five days a week for a higher salary.
Current Teleworking Landscape
Teleworking consists of two main models: full remote work and hybrid models.
The total number of people working from home remains significantly higher than before 2020, driven by employee preference and proven business viability.
Below is a breakdown of how many jobs are currently remote:
The remote work rate in the US was 22.1% in August 2025.
More than a third (36%) of job postings globally offer hybrid or fully remote options.
55% of employees want to work remotely at least three days a week.
Nearly all (98%) employees say they would recommend remote work.
Remote Work Demographics
Access to remote work is heavily influenced by job type, education level, and age, highlighting a persistent digital and educational divide in access to flexible work arrangements.
For companies seeking to expand their talent pool, understanding these demographic trends is crucial.
The latest data reveals clear patterns regarding who works remotely:
Workers with an advanced degree have the highest rate of remote work, at 41.2%, while 36.8% of those with only a bachelor’s degree work remotely.
Only 4.4% of workers without a high school diploma work remotely.
Nearly 25% of employed women worked from home in August 2025, compared to approximately 20% of employed men.
The 35-44 age group has the highest rate of teleworking, at around 27%.
Workers between 16 and 24 years old have the lowest adoption rate of teleworking, at only 6%.
Generation Z increasingly values in-person collaboration for professional development, with 91% valuing in-person time.
Employers’ Perceptions of Teleworking
Employers’ perceptions are the main driver of the current attraction and repulsion dynamics in the labor market.
While teleworking has proven effective, a significant number of business leaders yearn for a return to the office, driven by concerns about organizational culture and a traditional view of productivity.
Stacie Haller, Senior Career Advisor at Resume Builder,
says this stems from managers’ perceptions of employees:
“Many leaders say they support hybrid work, but they’re increasingly bringing employees back due to underlying pressures and old habits. They equate visibility with productivity and fear losing organizational culture and collaboration. Executives keep talking about ‘hybrid work,’ but they often mean structured workdays in the office, rather than true flexibility.”
This tension creates a competitive job market where flexibility is an essential benefit, even if not a monetary one. Here’s how employers perceive remote work today:
By 2026, the percentage of companies requiring physical presence in the office five days a week is projected to increase to 30%.³
Nearly half of all companies plan to require their employees to be in the office four days a week or more.³
The top three reasons companies cite for increasing physical presence requirements are:
1) strengthening company culture (64%);
2) increasing productivity (62%);
3) optimizing office space (45%).
Only 28% of companies offer incentives (such as social events or meals) to encourage a return to the office.³
The true cost of remote work
The most significant trend in 2026 regarding remote work is the growing disconnect between what employers want and what employees demand.
76% of workers would quit if they were forced to take mandatory days off.
Senior management is pushing for a return to the office. However, employees consistently cite flexibility as a non-negotiable benefit and are often willing to leave a job that eliminates remote work options.
This dilemma forces companies to strike a delicate balance. Losing employees is more costly than any perceived advantage of requiring them to be in the office.
These statistics highlight the cost to both employers and employees of not considering remote work:
76% of workers would quit if they were no longer allowed to work remotely.
Among job seekers, 85% stated that remote work is the primary motivating factor in their job search.
For employers, the average savings in real estate costs with full-time remote work is estimated at $10,000 per employee per year.
Twelve states, the District of Columbia, and the city of Seattle, Washington, have laws requiring employers to reimburse employees for work-related expenses, including teleworking costs.
In one study, employee turnover decreased by 33% among workers who transitioned from full-time office work to a hybrid model.
Teleworkers have up to 54% smaller carbon footprints than their office-based counterparts.
Teleworking Productivity Statistics: Long-term data overwhelmingly supports the idea that teleworking can be highly productive, although employers may disagree. However, this productivity boost depends on a culture of trust and the availability of the right tools for seamless collaboration.
Flexible companies are 42% more productive.
Leaders who prioritize productivity over physical presence achieve the best results:
In a study of 800,000 employees, productivity remained stable or even increased when working from home.
Eliminating commutes saves remote workers an average of 72 minutes per day.
When remote workers save time by not having to commute, approximately 40% of that time is dedicated to productive work activities.
Remote workers gain approximately 62 hours of productive work per year thanks to fewer interruptions in the office.
Employees at Fortune’s 2025 100 Best Companies to Work For (97 of which offer remote or hybrid work) are nearly 42% more productive than those in a typical U.S. workplace.
Remote Work Salary Statistics
Compensation remains a key factor for employees when evaluating a job. However, for some, remote work and flexibility are the deciding factors.
The relationship between salary and workplace is becoming increasingly complex. Companies are seeking
