Some things haven’t stuck around since the height of the pandemic, like outdoor heaters at restaurants or baking bread. But other things have kept their relevance, including TikTok and remote work.
When COVID-19 hit, many knowledge workers nationwide stayed out of the office due to health concerns. The move made a lasting mark on how much employees value working from home—enough so that many never wanted to let go of their flexibility. Thirty-four percent of them are doing “some or all” of their work at home as of last year, finds the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’s annual American Time Use Survey (ATUS), which looked at data from 2022. Even though that number has declined from the pandemic peak of 42% in 2020, it’s still higher than pre-pandemic levels of 24%. That’s a sign that remote work has established itself as a staple of the American workforce.
