This is an enlightening study of remote work. The trends are clear with more people continuing to work remotely while leveraging mobile technology to stay connected.
Source: GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com Re-Post Patriot Mobile 8/19/2019
Below are the latest available statistics on the work-at-home/telework population in the U.S. based on an analysis of 2005-2017 American Community Survey (U.S. Census Bureau) data conducted by GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com. New numbers, for the prior year, are released each Fall.
The American Community Survey (ACS) derives its data on work-at-home from the question: What was your primary means of transportation to work during the survey week? “Worked at home” is one of the choices. Therefore, all we know about this population is that they worked primarily at home, which we assume means at least half-time.
Though often used interchangeably, ‘telework’ is defined as the substitution of technology for travel. Telecommuting is more narrowly defined as the substitution of technology for commuter travel. Thus if someone takes work home after being at the office, it is considered telework but not telecommuting. If someone works at home instead of driving to an office they are telecommuting. Both terms were coined by Jack Nilles in the 1970s. Note: many people and organizations are moving away from both terms in favor of remote work, distributed work, mobile work, smart working (U.K.), and workshifting (Canada). By the way, if you’re confused by all the different numbers you read about telework, join the club. We explain the problem here.