Catherwood Library

The Covid pandemic ushered in a time where flexible work agreements were increasingly utilized by companies and granted many employees the benefits of working remotely - benefits that look likely to stay, reports management consulting firm McKinsey, which surveyed 25,000 Americans. 58 percent of American workers now have the option to work remotely at least one day a week, while 35 percent can do so up to five days a week. 87 percent appreciated the opportunity to work remotely and spend an average of three days a week at home. When the survey data is extrapolated to the entire US population, at least 80 million Americans work remotely part of the time. However, 41 percent of those surveyed say they don’t have any option to work remotely, and McKinsey admitted that the survey, which was conducted online, was likely to favor the educated with higher incomes and who lived in areas with good internet. The survey attempted to address this with weighted models, but results still showed that younger, well-educated people with better incomes were mostly likely to have the benefit, and male employees were also better represented, with 61 percent of men being able to work remotely versus 52 percent of women.