Abstract:
The COVID-19 pandemic led to large and lasting changes in the world of work, particularly to a sharp increase in work from home (WFH). Since then, many employers have offered WFH to their employees as an amenity worth about 5% of current pay, but more among women and parents (see Aksoy et al, 2022). Key benefits of WFH include flexibility and large savings of time spent commuting (Aksoy et al., 2023a). In recent months, though, much attention has been raised by return-to-office mandates that seek a return to (mostly) fully onsite work. This report examines how the global WFH landscape looks five years after the pandemic. Our latest Global Survey of Working Arrangements (G-SWA) collected data from over 16,000 college and university graduates across 40 countries from November 2024 through February 2025.1 We targeted graduates as they are more likely to work in positions that have the potential for some WFH. Analyzing our data yields five key results.