Virginia at bottom of list of states identified as conducive for employees to work from home

In 2023, 12.7 percent of full-time employees in the United States work from home and another 28.2 percent work a hybrid schedule.

WalletHub’s report on Best States for Working From Home reveals that Virginia is no. 26 for working from home.

The personal finance website identified states most conducive to working from home by comparing the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 12 key metrics. Data includes share of workers working from home, internet cost and cybersecurity. WalletHub also considered how large and how crowded homes are in the state.

The best states for working from home are Delaware, Utah, Maryland, Connecticut and New Jersey. The worst states are Alaska, North Dakoata, Montana, Arkansas and Mississippi.

The highest share of labor force working from home is in D.C. with 12.30 percent, which is 4.1 times higher than in Mississippi, where the percentage working from home is the lowest at 3 percent. Eighty percent of New Hampshire households have broadband internet, which his 1.5 times higher than in Mississippi, the state with the lowest percentage at 52.30 percent.

Experts provided commentary on the outlook of working from home in 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,” Joseph P. Broschak, an associate professor and affiliated faculty at the University of Arizona said. “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. But I believe we will see work-from-home arrangements expand to a wider range of lower-skilled, white-collared jobs. I also expect we will see tremendous variation across employers in the structure of these work arrangements from completely working from home to hybrid arrangements where 1-2 days are spent in the office with the rest of the week working from home, to compressed work schedules, such as the 4-day work week.”

Dr. Alyssa McGonagle, an associate professor and Associate Editor of Occupational Health Science at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, said work from home will continue to be popular and an essential option if employers want to retain talent.

“Offering the option to work from home gives an employer a competitive advantage in today’s labor market, which still favors job applicants,” McGonagle said.

David C. Yamada, a professor at Suffolk University Law School, said companies should weigh whether offering or continuing to offer work from home or hybrid options works 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,” Yamada said.

Broschak said employers would be wise to invest more resources to support employees working from home.

“Some investments will be needed in technology, such as computer and communication hardware, and high-speed internet access, to [ensure] employees have the right tools and adequate computer security to perform their jobs efficiently and effectively and to collaborate with coworkers. But employers would also benefit from developing organizational policies that govern work-from-home arrangements and from training managers and supervisors on how to communicate with, monitor, and develop a more remote workforce. Insuring that employees have sufficient resources to perform their jobs is just one part of the equation. Work-from-home arrangements require employers to think differently about managing workers’ careers, career development and work culture,” Broschak said.

According to Dr. Joel T. Nadler, a former professor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and Senior Associate with Aon: Assessment Solutions, data reveals that productivity, job satisfaction and work/life balance have increased with work-from-home job options.

“Many of the perceived dangers such as cultural fit, retention, and ‘quiet quitting’ have generally not been found in larger samples. The additional advantages of attracting a larger pool of high-quality candidates that are not limited to your company’s geography or that are willing to move are clear. Further, reduced operating costs of maintaining larger facilities are also an advantage for many organizations. The disadvantages include roles that do not lend themselves to virtual work and the potential resentment in those workers as their colleagues are offered flexibility that does not mirror their experiences. Another issue is that a portion of the workforce enjoys traditional work from the clear delineation of work and non-work to the in-person interactions. As with most policies work from home has many advantages but is not for everyone or every role and as a company is confronted with various expectations of what work looks like for different employees there will likely be unexpected ripples from any policy changes,” Nadler said.

McGonagle said work from home is attractive to employees for a variety of reasons in the United States.

“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,” McGonagle said.