Covid-19 and Remote Work: An Early Look at Us Data

26 Pages Posted: 15 Jun 2020 Last revised: 20 Mar 2022

See all articles by Erik Brynjolfsson

Erik Brynjolfsson

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Stanford

John J. Horton

New York University (NYU) - Department of Information, Operations, and Management Sciences

Adam Ozimek

Upwork

Daniel Rock

University of Pennsylvania - Operations & Information Management Department

Garima Sharma

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Sloan School of Management

Hong Yi Tu Ye

MIT Sloan

Date Written: June 2020

Abstract

We report the results of a nationally-representative sample of the US population during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey ran in two waves from April 1-5, 2020 and May 2-8, 2020. Of those employed pre-COVID-19, we find that about half are now working from home, including 35.2% who report they were commuting and recently switched to working from home. In addition, 10.1% report being laid-off or furloughed since the start of COVID-19. There is a strong negative relationship between the fraction in a state still commuting to work and the fraction working from home. We find that the share of people switching to remote work can be predicted by the incidence of COVID-19 and that younger people were more likely to switch to remote work. Furthermore, states with a higher share of employment in information work including management, professional and related occupations were more likely to shift toward working from home and had fewer people laid off or furloughed. We find no substantial change in results between the two waves, suggesting that most changes to remote work manifested by early April.

Suggested Citation

Brynjolfsson, Erik and Horton, John J. and Ozimek, Adam and Rock, Daniel and Sharma, Garima and Tu Ye, Hong Yi, Covid-19 and Remote Work: An Early Look at Us Data (June 2020). NBER Working Paper No. w27344, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3626845

Erik Brynjolfsson (Contact Author)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

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Stanford ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://brynjolfsson.com

John J. Horton

New York University (NYU) - Department of Information, Operations, and Management Sciences ( email )

44 West Fourth Street
New York, NY 10012
United States
6175952437 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://john-joseph-horton.com

Adam Ozimek

Upwork ( email )

Daniel Rock

University of Pennsylvania - Operations & Information Management Department ( email )

Philadelphia, PA 19104
United States

Garima Sharma

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Sloan School of Management ( email )

100 Main Street
E62-416
Cambridge, MA 02142
United States

Hong Yi Tu Ye

MIT Sloan ( email )

United States

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