Surveys on working from home -- one year later opinions have changed

A survey by Fannie Mae of mortgage lenders found:
62% said a remote workforce improved productivity

51% said it lowered operating costs.

52% said employee collaboration within and across business functions declined.

79% preferred a hybrid model with 21% to 80% of the employees working remotely.

Senior management and customer-facing personnel would not work from home.


Real estate services provider Savills released a survey of tech companies,
95% expect remote work for at least a few days a week.

Only 9% said that they will never return to the office.

Over the next 12-18 months, they need:
    Less office space: 47%
    The same office space: 40%
    More office space: 13%.

26% of the companies allow all employees to permanently relocate away from the office.

    54% allow employees to relocate away on a case by case basis.

    17% say everyone has to live where they can commute to the office.

76% of the companies said the average employee will spend 2-3 days a week at the office


A survey of Californian residents, conducted by the University of Southern California:
38% of workers with access to broadband internet have been working at home full-time

17% have been working at home part-time

Only 32% of the lowest income group reported working from home full or part-time, versus 73% making over $100,000.

82% want to work at home at least some of the time.

18% don’t want to work from home

Offices are still mostly empty, especially in Houston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Manhattan, Chicago, and Washington DC.

On the 10 largest metros, office occupancy is still only 26% of the old normal level in early March 2020, according to Kastle Systems.

Many people at the start of the pandemic didn’t like to work from home (missing social contact with colleagues, etc), but one year later, many have changed their minds.

Zoom conferencing reduces the need for airline travel, car rental and hotel reservations.

People working from home may be able to take care of their young children while working, reducing daycare expenses.

And there's no time wasted in rush hour traffic.

Potential  Problems:
-- At what point will all this vacant real estate show up in the financial economy as foreclosures?

It’s like suspended animation right now.


-- If working from home is fine for your job, will you be replaced by a lower salary worker living in an area with a low cost of living, such as in India

That's already done with call centers.