Yesterday was the day for work-from-home articles, as Bloomberg also posted this excellent article by Sarah Holder, The True Costs of Working From Home. It’s full of great information and statistics. This, for example:
Between 2013 and 2017, households with at least one adult who worked from home spent more money on housing, on average, than ones that all worked outside of the house, the study found: Remote renters spent between 6.5 % and 7.4% more of their income a month, and homeowners who worked remotely had mortgage and property taxes that were 8.4% to 9.8% greater than non-remote households.
I didn’t appreciate that, pre-pandemic, remote workers were already spending almost ten percent more on housing. That’s quite a bit. On the other hand I’m surprised the percentage of people working from home in times of Covid isn’t higher.
The study is a snapshot of the pre-coronavirus world, when only about 3% of U.S. employees did their jobs from home. By February 2020, that number had swelled by some estimates to 8%. And by May, that share had exploded, with about 35% of U.S. workers who once commuted going remote.
Still– that is about a third of the workforce. And it appears that staying in the neighborhood is popular amongst employees.
According to a Pew Research Center survey, more than half of workers who can do their jobs remotely say they will want to continue doing so after the pandemic ends. A December survey from Upwork predicted that 27% of workers in the U.S. would still be largely remote by the end of 2021.
The freedom of WFH allows people to move to new communities if they so choose. Perhaps drawn by less expensive housing, or a host of other possible benefits. A U-Haul study shows that coastal people tend to move to other states near the coasts. This article offers another view.
But sticking closer to home may be the favored path for many, especially if companies ask for some face-time each month. A San Francisco Chronicle analysis of USPS moving data showed that the majority of San Franciscans who left the city during the pandemic moved not to Florida or Texas, but to another Northern California county; a Zumper report that analyzed national rent shifts found a similar story, with “cheaper, neighboring cities” appearing to be the 2020 destinations.
I think it’s too soon to tell how household priorities will all shake out. There are options out there that people have yet to consider. If moving half way across the country is possible, why not another continent? Croatia is just one country trying to leverage the remote work concept by offering a Digital Nomad Visa.
There are many costs and benefits to living in various communities, and the reshuffling of tradeoffs will be different for each household. Businesses also may find the transition to remote work a cost savings at first, but then an expense as it is more difficult to recruit and train a corporate culture from afar. Though as a general rule, more choices for both employers and employees are a good thing.
Home Economics 