If there was ever a critical need to focus on the future of work, now is it. With companies forced to rethink service and product delivery, millions of employees have been furloughed and fired. In some cases, such as retail and food services, the move was inevitable. But for occupations where remote work is already a possibility, data shows that there is lots of room for improvement. When looking at the data by age group, only one age group is disproportionately restricted from remote opportunities.
The latest Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) work at home data shows that workers in occupations in management, business and financial industries, as well as professional and related services, were most likely to have performed paid work at home, 40.9 percent, and 29.1 percent, respectively.
Services occupations, which include healthcare, childcare and security services, have obvious limitations with work at home options, with only 3.8 percent having worked with pay from home.
However, in response to the coronavirus pandemic, healthcare services have seen a shift to teleservices. Most clinicians now offer patients an opportunity to meet with doctors and other medical professions through a variety of technology tools, including phone and computer. This is supported, in part, to Congress loosening the rules for using telehealth services under the $8.3 billion emergency package passed to help support the economic infrastructure.
One of the best opportunities to increase remote working is in the office and administrative support occupations, where only 15.9 percent have worked from home with pay.
When examining work from home by age, the BLS data show that 26 percent of workers aged 35 to 44 have worked from home with pay, and another 10.2 percent identify their occupations as feasible for remote work. Compared to workers aged 65 and older, where only 14.4 percent have performed paid work at home and only an additional 8.4 percent feel their jobs could be remote, if allowed.
One possible explanation points to hiring trends. The occupations most open to hiring older workers include retail and healthcare, which, as the data reveals, have inherent limitations.
With the coronavirus pandemic driving businesses to rethink work with stay-at-home and social distancing mandates, many of the companies successfully shifting to remote work will make it permanent. Seventy-four percent of CFOs plan to shift at least 5 percent of previously on-site employees to permanently remote positions post-COVID 19, according to a Gartner, Inc. survey. Six percent of leaders plan to keep 50 percent or more positions remote after the stay-at-home and social distancing restrictions have lifted.
