Work-from-home stays near a quarter of paid workdays
Flexibility did not disappear after the pandemic; it became a lasting work preference that weakens the old tie between job and place.
Work used to help root people to a city, commute, office, and social circle. Flexible work makes life more optional: where you live, who you see, and how attached you feel.
Work from home rose from about 7% of paid workdays in 2019 to roughly a quarter by 2025.
- employees value time control
- companies use flexibility to retain talent
- commuting feels costly
- knowledge work can be done through screens
- hybrid work became normal
Flexibility gives you freedom, but it does not automatically give you roots. You may have to build community, mentorship, routine, and identity on purpose.
Behind the numbersOpen
WFH Research and related FRED series measure the percent of full paid workdays worked from home for U.S. workers. A 2023 Journal of Economic Perspectives paper reported full days worked at home were 28% of paid workdays in mid-2023, about four times the 2019 rate. NBER’s 2025 working paper says preferred estimates put work from home at about a quarter of paid workdays among Americans ages 20–64. This is a flexibility signal, not a claim that remote work is good or bad. The tradeoff is freedom versus weaker place-based attachment, mentorship, and routine.