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Working from home means doing work from your own home. In formal statistics, however, the phrase can refer to different arrangements depending on whether home is the worker’s main workplace or an alternative to a usual workplace, and whether the definition requires the use of technology.
What does working from home mean?
In everyday language, working from home means carrying out work from your own residence. The phrase describes the location, but by itself it does not specify how often someone works there, whether they have another usual workplace, or what tools they use.
Those details matter when employers, researchers, or government agencies classify work arrangements or report statistics. The International Labour Organization (ILO) distinguishes related terms by the role home plays in the worker’s arrangement. Its technical guidance defines remote work from home as work carried out from the worker’s residence, with that residence serving as an alternative to the default workplace: Comprises workers carrying out remote work from their own residence.
ILO labour-statistics guidance.
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How working from home differs from related terms
| Term | What it describes |
|---|---|
| Work at home | A broad, location-based description: work carried out in the worker’s own home. Its precise scope depends on the framework using it. |
| Home-based work | In ILO statistical terminology, work for which the worker’s main place of work is their own home, whether or not home is also their default workplace. |
| Remote work from home | Work performed from the worker’s residence as an alternative to the default place of work. |
| Telework from home | In the cited ILO framework, remote work from the worker’s residence that also uses personal electronic devices to carry out the work. |
| Hybrid work | An arrangement or schedule that combines remote work and in-person work. The label alone does not say how frequently or intensely a person works remotely. |
These meanings overlap, and everyday conversation often uses the terms interchangeably. But “remote work” can take place somewhere other than home, while “working from home” does not necessarily meet every formal definition of telework. Some broader definitions of telework include work from locations beyond home and refer to information and communication technology or telephones. The OECD notes that there is no internationally agreed definition of telework; the framework and reference period should therefore be stated when comparing figures. OECD discussion of measuring telework.
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How to interpret working-from-home statistics
A percentage is meaningful only alongside the survey’s definition, population, denominator, and time period. Check whether the measure counts work from home or work from any remote location; whether it counts occasional work or requires a regular arrangement; and whether it specifies technology use.
For example, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that 35.5 million people, or 22.9 percent of people at work, teleworked or worked at home for pay in the first quarter of 2024. That is a U.S. estimate using the BLS measure, not a global rate or a 2026 estimate. BLS, “Telework during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond”.
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The BLS Current Population Survey asks whether someone teleworked or worked at home for pay during the survey reference week and, if so, how many hours they worked remotely. Its rate is the number of people who did so as a percentage of people who were employed and at work during that week. People employed but not at work for the entire reference week are excluded. For people with multiple jobs, the question covers any job but does not identify which job was remote. BLS telework data and definitions.
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Is working from home the same as remote work?
Not exactly. Working from home specifies that work happens in the worker’s home. Remote work refers to work away from a default workplace and may happen at home or somewhere else. A person can work from home occasionally without having home as their main workplace; conversely, a home-based worker may have no separate default office.
When frequency matters, describe the arrangement as hybrid or state how often the person works remotely rather than treating “works from home” as a simple yes-or-no category. Frequency, intensity, and timing can affect what a telework measure captures.
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