Created by OWL Labs with support by TINYpulse

State of Remote Work 2017

A yearly data report to help leaders understand how remote work impacts hiring, retention and management.

Remote Work Distribution by Department and Role

52% of employees work remotely at least once per week.

Percentage of Employees in Department

  • 0%
  • 10%
  • 20%
  • 30%
  • 40%
  • 50%
  • 60%
  • 70%

Department

Company Average

Percentage of Employees in Department x Department

Company Average

Sales hires remote employees 66% more often than average.

Percentage of Workers Who Were Hired Remotely

    Department

    Company Average

    Percentage of Workers Who Were Hired Remotely x Department

    Company Average

    Small companies are 2X more likely to hire full-time remote employees.
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    employee--icons_row--2.png
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    Full-time remote workers are 2x more likely to be individual contributors than management.

    Percentage of Respondents in This Role

      Department

      Partially Remote

      Full-time Remote

      Percentage of Respondents in This Role x Department

      Partially Remote

      Full-time Remote

      Individual contributors work from home

      0%

      more often than management.
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      Remote Work's Impact on Hiring, Retention and Management

      Fully distributed companies take 33% less time to hire a new employee.

      Time to Hire (Weeks)

      • 0
      • 1
      • 2
      • 3
      • 4
      • 5
      • 6
      • 7

      Time to Hire (Weeks)

      Companies that support remote work have 25% lower employee turnover than companies that don't.

      Percent of People Who Have Left

      • 0
      • 1
      • 2
      • 3
      • 4
      • 5
      • 6
      • 7
      • 8
      • 9
      • 10
      • 11
      • 12
      • 13
      Percent of People Who Have Left

      Working remotely doesn't negatively impact employees' investment in their work.

      Level of Investment
      (0 = Not Invested, 4 = Extremely Invested)

      • 0
      • 1
      • 2
      • 3
      • 4

      Percentage of Employees in Department x Department

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      Benefits & Challenges of Working Remotely

      51% of remote employees work remotely to improve work/life balance.
      Owl Labs Work/Life Balance

      Employees miss conversations and celebrations most when working remotely.
      Missed Conversations

      0%

      Missed Conversations
      Missed Celebrations

      0%

      Missed Celebrations
      Missed Culture

      0%

      Missed Culture
      Missed Tactical

      0%

      Missed Tactical

      Remote workers say their biggest challenge is staying in the loop. 
      Remote Workers Biggest Challenges
      Work Remotely at Least One a Month

      0%

      of employees who don't work remotely today would like to work remotely at least once a month. 

      57% of onsite employees choose not to work remotely because the nature of their job doesn't allow it.

      Percentage of Respondents Who Choose Not to Work Remotely

        Percentage of Respondents Who Choose Not to Work Remotely

        Brainstorms are the most challenging meeting to follow when attending remotely.
        Brainstorms Meetings Most Challenging

        Video conferencing performs 30% better for communication than audio-only setups.
        Video Conferencing Performs 30% Better

        Managing a Remote Workforce

        Managers of distributed teams say their biggest challenge is cultivating strong company culture.
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        Remote workers with managers who work on site have 25% fewer career growth conversations than average. 

        Average number of career growth conversations per year between manager and employee

        • 0
        • 5
        • 10
        • 15
        • 20

        Company Average

        Average number of career growth conversations per year between manager and employee

        Company Average

        Remote Work and Job Performance

        Job performance is most important to managers when considering an employee's request to work remotely.
        remote-work-and-job-performance.png

        Managers see equal performance between their onsite and remote employees.
        Managers see equal performance between their on site and remote employees

        Data includes 1,097 US-based respondents across all company sizes and industries.

        Download the Data

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