An estimated 41 percent of full-time employees in the United States work either fully or partly remotely, sparking discussion about the value employees place on remote work and its impact on wage-setting. This column estimates the value US tech industry employees assign to remote work. On average, individuals are willing to forgo 25 percent of their total compensation for a job that offers partially or fully remote work but is otherwise identical to a fully in-person position. Tech employers offer slightly more pay for remote positions than otherwise identical in-person positions.
Remote work has become increasingly common in recent years (Hansen et al. 2023). It is estimated that 11.8 percent of full-time employees in the U.S. work fully remotely, with an additional 29 percent working partly remote (Barrero et al. 2023). This shift has led to much discussion (Stanton et al. 2020) about the value employees place on remote work and how it impacts wage-setting practices. For example, a group of studies uses survey data to estimate how much of a pay cut individuals would accept for remote work (e.g. Barrero et al. 2021, Bartik et al. 2024, Mas and Pallais 2017).
In a recent paper (Cullen et al. 2025a), we provide new insights into the debate. We estimate the value employees assign to remote work by analysing revealed preferences in a high-stakes, real-world setting. Additionally, we examine compensation data to assess how preferences for remote work have influenced employer wage-setting practices.
Please select this link to read the complete article from Vox EU.