Hours worked from home doubled since Covid pandemic

The number of hours people work from home has doubled compared to before the coronavirus pandemic, according to a study by the Knowledge Institute for Mobility Policy (KiM). In 2019, people worked from home an average of 3 hours a week. Now that is 6.5 hours.

KiM provides information about mobility to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. It surveyed nearly 2,000 respondents about working from home in May. The respondents indicated that they expected to work from home an average of about 6 hours a week in the future. So they think they’ll eventually go to the office a little more often than they did this spring.

Not everyone is working from home more. The increase in working hours at home is particularly visible among people with an office or management position, highly educated people, and people who travel to work by public transport. About half of all respondents, who KiM surveyed multiple times between October 2019 and May 2021, say they cannot work from home due to the nature of their work.

Like before the pandemic, Tuesdays and Thursdays remain the days people are most likely to go to the office. Working people often still choose the same means of transport to work, but the bicycle has gained some popularity since the pandemic. According to the researchers, this is mainly due to the popularity of the e-bike.