Despite pressure to return to the office from many leaders around the globe, new data from a group of economists show that remote work is picking up steam in some cities across the U.S., including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, and New York. According to the researchers, job postings for ” remote-friendly ” roles — fully remote or a hybrid of in-office and at-home days — are at record-level highs. 

That’s the latest finding of researchers including Stanford University’s Nicholas Bloom who’ve been gathering data on remote work since the early days of the pandemic. “Those cities with a greater white-collar workforce, especially in government, tech, and education, have the highest share of new jobs offering remote and hybrid arrangements,” Peter Lambert, a doctorate candidate at the London School of Economics and member of the research team, stated to Bloomberg.

Furthermore, the latest data suggests that partially empty office towers — a feature of city centers with the rise of remote work — may remain that way. According to security firm Kastle Systems, office occupancy in major US cities is only about half of the pre-COVID-19 level.

What official numbers say

The latest U.S. Labor Department report shows a steep dropoff in the percentage of companies allowing employees to telework. According to the Bureau, more than 72% of firms said employees worked remotely rarely or not at all last year, up from just over 60.1% in 2021. 

Stanford economics professor Nicholas Bloom highlights a flaw in the government’s data, though. “The survey is unfortunately just badly designed,” Bloom wrote in an email to Fortune. Bloom says the first question is poorly worded, and it’s hard to make conclusions based on it. It asks companies if employees “currently telework in any amount,” and defines telework as working from home or another remote location, including answering work emails. Bloom says most companies should have answered “yes” given that definition. The co-founder of the Working From Home Research Project points out that all firms will have at least one person who reads a work email outside of work in the past year.

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Source: Bloomberg | Fortune | WFH