Global trends in work location, before, during, and after COVID-19: office, home, hybrid, and nomad

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a sudden shift to digital remote work for most office workers worldwide. This article aims to survey and interpret global data on the shares of four workplace location options that have been adopted since the pandemic: working entirely in designated workplaces, working entirely from home, hybrid work in both workplaces and workers' houses, and international digital nomadism. Working at home, fully or partially, became technologically possible in the 1970s, and even more so following the introduction of the commercial Internet in 1995. However, remote work was only modestly adopted before the pandemic, being unpreferred by both employers and employees. During the pandemic, the number of people working from home increased dramatically, resulting in a significant shift in habits for both employers and employees. Following the decline of the pandemic, the global share of full remote workers declined, but working partially from home remained significant. Global digital nomadism, following the decline of the pandemic, remains modest but continues to grow. Remote work has become a substantial mode of virtual mobility compared to other virtual activities, notably online shopping and digital networking. The emerging locational elasticity of work has led to spatially expanded residential and economic suburbanization.