The Retreat of the Home Office Has Begun

The Corona pandemic has brought about lasting changes in the working world. Worldwide, millions of employees were forced to stay away from their offices due to the rapid spread of the virus and lockdowns. Where possible, companies switched to home office - a model that proved successful, even beyond the pandemic. For today it is clear: remote work is here to stay, even if it is now on the retreat.

Especially in companies from the service sector, the IT industry, or other "white-collar businesses," where work can largely be done from a desk or in front of a monitor, the flexible working method quickly established itself. Of course, this was not possible everywhere: industrial companies had to temporarily halt or reduce their production, the same applied to the gastronomy and many other economic sectors. In Austria, they were supported with short-time work and other aids.

Decline in Home Office

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. Nevertheless, in many places, it is now said again: "Back to Office." Not only, but especially in the USA, a counter-trend is currently emerging. Whether Amazon, JP Morgan, or Google: they have all largely declared the end of working from home for their operations in recent times. The new US government under President Donald Trump is also focusing on strict office work, recently suggesting resignation to civil servants if they do not want to return permanently to their original workplace.

In Austria, this is not handled as strictly, but home office has recently been used less here as well than a few years ago. According to the Ministry of Finance, which has data from submitted payrolls by employers, the number of employees working from home decreased continuously from 2021 to 2023. While in the year, about 848,000 employed people regularly worked from home, by 2023 it was only about 743,000. Similar findings can be drawn from a study evaluating home office usage commissioned by the Ministry of Labor and Economy, conducted until mid-2023. The survey shows a slight decline in the following years after a jump in 2020.

Development Present

This finding is supported by a more recent Deloitte analysis from 2024, which both the Chamber of Labor (AK) and the Economic Chamber (WKÖ) refer to upon APA request. While in 2022, 82 percent of employees with office jobs regularly worked from home, by 2024 it was only 65 percent. However, from the perspective of the Chamber of Labor, it should be noted that the Deloitte sample largely includes companies with at least theoretical home office possibilities, and the results are therefore only partially comparable with other studies.

The increased use of home office since the pandemic ultimately also prompted fundamental legal changes in Austria: Since January 1, 2025, home office legally falls under the broader term "telework." For employees, the change made it possible to perform their work not only within their own four walls but also, for example, at family members' homes or in coffee houses. The prerequisite for location-independent "working from anywhere" is an agreement with the employer.

(APA/Red)

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