Remote Workers Are Saving 60 Million Commuting Hours — and Working Less. Here's How They Spend Their Extra Time. Everyone's getting more sleep — but this is how the rest of it breaks down.
By Amanda Breen Edited by Jessica Thomas
Remote and hybrid working arrangements have become the post-pandemic norm, saving American employees hours of commuting each week.
That's 60 million hours per day to be exact, according to research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported by Bloomberg. The same analysis revealed that Americans aren't spending that extra time on work.
Related: Remote Work Is Here to Stay. It's Time to Update the Way You Lead.
Time saved commuting is just one of the many work-from-home perks Americans value. According to research from The New York Times last fall, remote work reduces employee stress levels — giving employees more opportunities to focus on their mental health and spend time with their families.
And those findings still hold true today. The American Time Use survey analyzed by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that employees are spending fewer hours working and significantly more on sleep and leisure.
All groups of remote workers got approximately one additional hour of sleep per day. But younger employees were more likely to spend time on leisure activities, including going to bars and restaurants or working out, while older employees used their extra time on domestic work like cooking, cleaning and childcare.
Related: Why Remote Work Shouldn't Be Up for Debate
Employees might be working less, but that doesn't mean they're necessarily being less productive.
"If you spend 9-to-5, or however many hours a day you're working, on super energy-draining activities, it doesn't really matter how many hours you log — you're not going to be high-performing and you're not going to be engaged," Alexia Cambon, a research leader of consulting firm Gartner's human resources practice, told Bloomberg.
