Despite a growing number of return-to-office mandates from major companies, remote and hybrid work has become a fixture in the U.S. labor market, according to a new analysis of Census Bureau data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
The research found that nearly 22% of U.S. workers worked from home at least some of the time in 2025—a slight decline from the previous year but evidence that flexible work has not disappeared. Early 2026 data shows the trend continuing, with the combined share of hybrid and fully remote workers holding steady at roughly 22%.
The findings challenge the narrative that return-
to-office policies have dramatically reversed pandemic-era workplace changes. Instead, researchers say the data points to a new workplace structure where employers and workers embrace a mix of in-person and remote work.The Minneapolis Fed’s analysis, based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey,
found that while the share of fully remote workers dipped slightly in 2025, hybrid work increased modestly, keeping the overall percentage of employees working remotely relatively unchanged. Employees also logged about the same number of hours working from home compared with the prior year.However, data shows that remote work varies considerably by industry. Public administration experienced one of the sharpest declines in remote work in light of federal and state government efforts to bring employees back into the office. The information sector also saw a noticeable drop following return-to-office requirements announced by several large tech companies last year. Meanwhile, hybrid work appears to have become the new normal, particularly for knowledge professionals.
Nevertheless, flexible work remains common across occupations where it is feasible. Gallup research finds that hybrid schedules are the preferred arrangement among employees with remote-capable jobs rather than being fully remote or fully on-site.
For employers, the data underscores how workplace flexibility has evolved from a temporary pandemic accommodation into a long-term talent strategy. Companies continue to weigh collaboration and office utilization against employee expectations around flexibility, recruitment, and retention.RELATED CONTENT: Noisy Coworkers Ruining Your Focus? Another Reason Why Employees Hate Return-To-Office Mandates