New world of work

Working from home: trend remains relevant despite decline

Working from home still popular after the pandemic - but the trend has weakened recently.

(Bild: APA/dpa/Julian Stratenschulte)

The coronavirus pandemic has brought lasting changes to the world of work. Millions of employees around the world were forced to stay away from their offices due to the rapid spread of the virus and lockdowns. 

Where possible, companies therefore switched to working from home - a model that proved its worth, even beyond the pandemic. Because today it is clear that working from home is here to stay, even if it is now on the decline.

Especially in companies in the service sector, the IT industry or in other "white-collar businesses", where work can largely be performed from a desk or in front of a monitor, flexible working has quickly established itself. Of course, this was not possible everywhere: industrial companies had to stop or shut down their production at short notice, and the same applied to the catering industry and many other sectors of the economy. In Austria, they were given a helping hand with short-time working and other forms of support.

Working from home is being pushed back in many places
Even after the pandemic, working from home remained popular, as many employees and managers experience a better work-life balance or more flexibility in everyday life as a result. Nevertheless, it's now back to the office in many places. A counter-trend is currently emerging, not only, but especially in the USA. Amazon, JP Morgan and Google have all recently announced the end of working from home for most of their companies. The new US government under President Donald Trump, who recently suggested that civil servants should resign if they do not want to return to their original workplace permanently, is also relying on strict remote working.

Declining use in Austria
In Austria, this is not handled so strictly, but home office has recently been used less here than just a few years ago. According to the Ministry of Finance, which has data on this via pay slips submitted by employers, the number of employees working from home fell continuously from 2021 to 2023. While a good 848,000 employees were still regularly working from home in 2021, this figure had fallen to just over 743,000 by 2023. Similar findings can be found in a study commissioned by the Ministry of Labor and Economic Affairs to evaluate home office use, which was carried out until mid-2023. After a jump in 2020, the survey also shows a slight decline in the following years.

This finding is underpinned by a more recent Deloitte analysis from 2024, to which both the Chamber of Labor (AK) and the Chamber of Commerce (WKÖ) refer in response to an APA inquiry. While 82% of employees with office jobs still regularly worked from home in 2022, this figure had fallen to 65% by 2024. However, the Chamber of Labor points out that the Deloitte sample largely includes companies with at least theoretical home office options and the results are therefore only comparable with other studies to a limited extent.

Home office became teleworking
The increased use of home office since the pandemic ultimately also provided the impetus for fundamental legislative changes in Austria: Since January 1, 2025, home office has been legally covered by the broader term "teleworking". The change made it possible for employees to work not only within their own four walls, but also with family members or in coffee shops, for example. The prerequisite for working from anywhere is an agreement with the employer.