15 Mind-Blowing Stats About Workforce Productivity

We’re surfacing some of the most meaningful research and stats around what makes remote workers most productive.

15 Mind-Blowing Stats About Workforce Productivity

COVID-19 has certainly changed life and work as we know it.

Many people from all over the United States are trying their hand at remote work for the very first time. What’s the key to keeping your newly remote workforce productive? And could working from home actually improve performance? We found data to help answer these questions, and more, below.

  1. Even before the coronavirus outbreak forced businesses across the world to adopt a remote work policy, more than 5 million U.S. employees already were working from home at least half the time. (Source: Fundera)
  2. Working from home can increase productivity. In fact, remote employees work 1.4 more days per month than their office-based counterparts, resulting in more than three additional weeks of work per year. (Source: Business News Daily)
  3. The number of employers offering a work-from-home option has grown by 40% in the past five years. However, only 7% of all employers in the United States offer work-from-home flexibility. (Source: Fundera)
  4. Seventy-one percent of people said listening to music at work makes them more productive. (Source: Robert Half)
  5. Productivity per hour declines when a person works more than 50 hours a week. (Source: Stanford University)
  6. Employee health plays a role in productivity as well. In fact, companies see a 25% better performance from employees who eat healthily. (Source: Finances Online)
  7. Additionally, employees report they are more productive on days when they exercise before work. (Source: The American Psychological Association)
  8. U.S. productivity improved by 1.7% in 2019, which marked the largest gains in nine years. It’ll be interesting to see COVID’s impact on productivity with so many people now working from home. (Source: Marketwatch)
  9. U.S. businesses lose $11 billion due to staff turnover each year. (Source: Emplify)
  10. Delays to customer projects and/or services is the No. 1 impact of employee turnover. (Source: Zenefits)
  11. A recent experiment found that working from home during a nine-month period led to a 50% drop in employee quit rates. (Source: Stanford University)
  12. A whopping 40% of people feel the greatest benefit of remote work is the flexible schedule. (Source: SmallBizGenius)
  13. Time lost in ineffective meetings costs U.S. businesses over $37 billion a year. (Source: Gallup)
  14. Fifty-four percent of HR leaders indicate that poor technology and/or infrastructure for remote working is the biggest barrier to effectively working from home during COVID-19. (Source: Gartner)
  15. By the end of 2021, 25% to 30% of the workforce will be working from home multiple days a week. (Source: Global Workplace Analytics)