Worldwide, the most active users of connected devices are younger workers. The hours people use devices like smartphones, computers, and tablets ranks second among either younger adults not employed outside of the home or older adults who are employed, varying by country.
This MetaFAQs reports on the mean weekly hours that adults use connected devices by employment status and age group by country. Report [TUP_doc_2024_0215_ybus] in TUP Lenses: Devices; PCs; Mobile Phones; Tablets; User Profile; Work/Life Balance
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Worldwide, older workers express less likelihood of working remotely within a year’s time. Half or more of workers aged 40 and up in the UK and Germany do not expect to be working remotely in one year. Among younger adults in the UK and Germany, the share is closer to 40%. In all countries surveyed except Japan, younger adults have a lower share that do not expect to be working remotely in one year.
This MetaFAQs reports on the percentage of working online adults– full-time, part-time, or self-employed– who do not expect to be working remotely in one year. These results are based on responses from 7,842 online adult workers in the US, Germany, UK, Japan, and China. Report [TUP_doc_2024_0209_owfh] in TUP Lenses: User Profile; Work/Life Balance
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Most remote workers cover their smartphone costs, even for work use. That is true regardless of whether they use their smartphones for work-related activities. For a fraction of workers whose fees are curtailed by the employer, workers in the UK have the highest share of being supported for their 2nd smartphone, with workers in Germany being a close second. Workers in Japan have the highest share of reimbursement for their primary smartphone. This compares to the related finding that home computers used for work are also primarily paid for by the worker, not the employer.
This MetaFAQs reports on the percentage of online workers– full-time, part-time, or self-employed– who have their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd smartphone’s fees paid for or reimbursed by their employer, for the US, Germany, UK, Japan, and China. Report [TUP_doc_2024_0207_empc] in TUP Lenses: Mobile Phones; Work/Life Balance
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Remote workers tend to earn more than their workplace-going counterparts. Various factors, including educational attainment, socioeconomic status, and job type, influence this. We found this positive association in the US, UK, Germany, Japan, and China.
This MetaFAQs focuses on quantifying the income disparity, rather than determining the causal relationship between income levels and remote work. Report [TUP_doc_2024_0131_affl] in TUP Lenses: User Profile; Work/Life Balance
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Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, January 29, 2024
Summary
Remote workers make up nearly half of online workers in the US, Germany, and the UK. In Japan, remote working rates are lower, and among China’s socioeconomically elite online workers, the rates are higher. Smaller employers generally have the highest percentage of workers working remotely, although the pattern is not significantly different among medium and large employers. Remote working rates in 2023 are slightly lower in 2023 than in 2022, although not substantially so.
This MetaFAQs reports on the number of online adults working remotely in the US, Germany, the UK, Japan, and China, split by the employer’s size.
Remote working trends by country for employers of all sizes
Following the onset of the Covid pandemic, remote working has become the norm for working adults in most countries surveyed
In the US and the UK, the percentage of workers working remotely has dropped slowly to approach the halfway mark
In Germany, remote working peaked in 2021 and has since declined
In Japan, remote work also peaked in 2021, although it has never reached the levels in other countries surveyed
The socioeconomically elite adults surveyed strongly increased remote work to a peak in 2022, which has since subsided slightly
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More workers use a home computer for work than use an employer-provided computer. With the onset of the pandemic, employees and employers alike suddenly scrambled for ways to get their work done. For many employees, especially knowledge workers, having access to a computer is vital. However, not all employers have supported remote workers by providing a computer, and instead have relied on employees using their home computers. Currently, in all countries surveyed except for the UK, more workers use a home PC for work-related activities than use a work computer.
This MetaFAQs reports on the percentage of remote workers and non-remote workers who use a home computer for work-related activities or use an employer-provided PC, across the US, Germany, UK, Japan, and China. Report [TUP_doc_2024_0129_hwpc] in TUP Lenses: PCs; Activities; Work/Life Balance
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With the onset of the pandemic, remote workers rushed to outfit their homes or remote working locations with technology to help them communicate, work, and otherwise be productive. During this time, not all workers could acquire the technology they wanted since only in some cases did employers provide the desired technology. Following this peak, most interest in tech buying plans has waned and reverted to the mean.
This MetaFAQs reports on the purchase plans for remote workers within the next twelve months. It includes mobile phones (smartphones and feature phones), computers (desktops and laptops), tablets, and printers from 2020 through 2023. Each trend is also compared to workers who never work remotely. Report [TUP_doc_2024_0127_plat] in TUP Lenses: Devices; PCs; Mobile Phones; Tablets; Consumer Electronics; Printers; Work/Life Balance
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During the pandemic, the rapid flight to health, safety, and remote work caught many employers’ IT departments unprepared. Many workers did not have employer-provided computers or even home-owned ones, although the majority had smartphones. At the same time, much of the online population was already migrating many of their everyday activities away from computers to smartphones. Consequently, roughly half of online adults in the US and UK, and over 40% of those in Germany and Japan, regularly use their smartphones for work-related activities.
This MetaFAQ reports on the percentage of online adults that use a smartphone for a range of work-related activities, from checking email and participating in online meetings to phone and video calls. Report [TUP_doc_2024_0123_spwt] in TUP Lenses: Mobile Phones; Activities; Communication; Work/Life Balance
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Who will be right—the employers or the employees? Nearly all workers currently working remotely expect to be working remotely in one year. While the majority expect a hybrid arrangement, a sizable number expect to be always working remotely. Americans have the strongest expectations of always working from home.
This MetaFAQs reports on the percentage of remote workers who expect to always work from home in one year, to never work remotely, and those who expect some hybrid remote work status. This is detailed by countries surveyed: the US, Germany, the UK, Japan, and China. Report [TUP_doc_2024_0121_fwft] in TUP Lenses: User Profile; Work/Life Balance
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The rapid spread of the pandemic caught many employers and employees by surprise. Most were unprepared to work remotely and many were uncertain how long they might be working remotely. Consequently, many workers simply used their personally-owned home computers to get work done. Although 2020 saw high levels of home PC use for work which then shrunk markedly in 2021, we’re now seeing a return to broad home PC use for work. Using a home PC for work activities is a widespread practice, even among workers who may have an employer-provided PC available to them when they are in the workplace. Although work email is a major activity for home PCs, there is a long list of work activities regularly done by many remote workers.
This MetaFAQ reports on the percentage of remote workers and workers who never work remotely that use a home computer for work-related activities. This is split by country. Further, this report details the list of work-related activities that remote workers regularly do with their home PC. Report [TUP_doc_2024_0113_hwrt] in TUP Lenses: PCs; User Profile; Households; Activities; Work/Life Balance
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