Upwork’s new Future Workforce Pulse Report is predicting that the number of remote workers could double by 2025, growing by 16.8 million people.
The report found that hiring managers expect people to slowly return to the office, with 26.7% of the workforce being fully remote in one year. Prior to the pandemic, only 12.3% of the workforce worked remotely.
“Increased productivity and flexibility continue to be key benefits of remote work: Hiring managers cite reduction of non-essential meetings, increased schedule flexibility, and no commute as aspects of remote work that have worked better than expected,” the report from Upwork said.
While this arrangement is at the front of everyone’s minds, CBRE CEO Bob Sulentic predicts that 80% of occupancy will come back to offices in the coming years.
However, it won’t be the traditional offices we once knew. Instead, Sulentic anticipates the adoption of various alternative workspaces, such as flexible offices, managed workspaces and more as companies explore a hybrid work arrangement.
Major technology companies, such as Google, have already revealed their commitment to a hybrid approach. Just last week, Google CEO Sundar Pichai sent out an email to employees that announced the company’s transition to a flexible workweek where employees come into the offices for three days and work from home the other two.
