With 12.7 percent of full-time employees now working entirely from home and another 28.2 percent having a hybrid schedule, the personal-finance website WalletHub has released its report on the Best States for Working from Home.
To identify which states are most conducive to working from home, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 12 key metrics. The data set ranges from the share of workers working from home to internet cost and cybersecurity. The study also considered factors like how large and how crowded homes are in the state. Together, these metrics show how feasible working from home is in terms of cost, comfort and safety.
Working from Home in California (1=Best, 25=Avg.):
9th – Share of Population Working from Home
36th – Share of Potential Telecommuters
12th – Households’ Internet Access
31st – Average Home Square Footage
51st – Cybersecurity
47th – Average Retail Price of Electricity
8th – Internet Cost
For the full report, visit: https://wallethub.com/edu/best-states-for-working-from-home/72801
Expert Commentary
What is the work from home outlook for 2023 and beyond?
“The demand to work from home should continue to be strong throughout the rest of 2023 and increase into the future. Employers were forced to allow employees to work from anywhere during the pandemic, and that experiment largely proved successful. Trying to un-ring that bell and bring employees back into offices on an ongoing basis because that was the pre-pandemic model may be frustratingly difficult as many employees have gotten a taste of remote work as a viable work arrangement. Working from home may not be suitable for every job or every worker. Higher-skilled, professional jobs which require limited oversight are those most likely to be considered for work-from-home arrangements while many service, retail, and manufacturing jobs will still require performing work at the employer’s location.”
Joseph P. Broschak – Associate Professor; Affiliated Faculty, University of Arizona
Should companies invest more of their resources in establishing a functional work-from-home alternative for their employees?
“Employers first need to weigh whether offering or continuing to offer, work at home or hybrid options is desirable for them. There are advantages: Work-at-home alternatives can buoy recruiting, support family-friendly work policies, and reduce the need for expensive office space. In addition, studies are finding that working at home can improve productivity. If a decision is made to commit to work-at-home options, then a company should definitely invest in the resources to do so successfully.”
David C. Yamada – Professor, Suffolk University Law School
What are the most important advantages and disadvantages of working from home?
“Work-from-home options are attractive to many workers for a variety of reasons. These are varied and personal, including avoiding the stress and expense of long commutes, avoiding office politics and microaggressions, assisting with focus and productivity by avoiding noisy, distracting open office environments, and personal preference. My research shows that work-from-home arrangements are especially important for workers with chronic health conditions, who report improved abilities to manage work and health challenges when working from home. Time and energy are precious resources these workers may lack due to the need to attain healthcare and depletion due to disease processes and associated symptoms. Saving time and energy that would have been spent on commuting to work allows these workers to continue working productively when they otherwise would not be able to. Working from home also allows easy access to fresh foods to meet dietary restrictions, bathrooms if symptoms necessitate close access, and the ability to optimally set up one’s workstation to meet health-related needs.”
Alyssa McGonagle, Ph.D. – Associate Professor; Associate Editor, Occupational Health Science, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
