Working from home likely here post-virus
Some workers have enjoyed the short commute to the dining room table and will likely continue to work from home even after the pandemic ends, according to a recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
During a three-month period ended in February, the Dallas Fed asked 6,700 individuals about their expectations for working from home in 2022. About 37.4 percent of respondents said they plan to be working at home at least some days of the week in February 2022. That rate was 41 percent this past February. It was 24.7 percent in February 2020, before the pandemic-related shutdowns went into effect.
Nearly 13 percent of those workers say they plan to be working full-time at home next year, while about 25 percent expect to split time between the office and home. The remaining believe they will have returned to their offices.
Demographics such as income levels, education and gender
could determine who will be more like to work at home, according to the study.
Women, people with higher education levels and income, and those without children in the house are most likely to work at home at least part time. Those least likely to work from home next year include men, Hispanic workers, workers with children, and those with lower education levels and income.
“The expectations for more part-time work from home in the future … suggest that the pandemic potentially unlocked important new welfare gains in the form of lower commuting costs, higher productivity and greater geographical mobility,” according to the report. “In such a situation, these gains are unlikely to be shared equally.”
The rate of employees with bachelor’s degree working from home will increase by nearly 20 percentage points by 2022. The rate of those with low education levels working at home will rise by only 5 percentage points.
For those with household incomes higher than $100,000, the rate will rise by 17 percentage points, compared with an increase of 9 percentage points for low-income workers, or household incomes lower than $50,000. The rate of employees without children working from home is expected to rise by 15 percentage points compared with an 8.7 percentage point increase for those with children.