In early March 2020, a Gallup poll showed that 31% of workers had worked remotely during their careers. One month later, more than 60% of those surveyed reported working remotely. Though remote work has been a slow but steady trend that many experts have long pointed to as the future of the workforce, the trend was inarguably fast-tracked when COVID-19 was labeled a global health pandemic and worldwide shutdowns prevented millions of workers from going into an office or company facility.
U.S.-based Enterprise Technology Research (ETR), which surveyed about 1,200 chief information officers from around the world across different industries, found that the percentage of workers around the world that permanently work from home doubled in 2021 as productivity has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.