Roughly 3 in 4 U.S. Knowledge Workers Would Be Willing to Quit to Work From Home, Zapier Report Finds

Staff Report

Thursday, November 14th, 2019

Zapier — the leader in productivity automation — released The Remote Work Report by Zapier revealing American knowledge worker's opinions on remote work.

The report, based on findings from a survey commissioned Zapier and conducted online by The Harris Poll among more than 880 U.S. knowledge workers (adults age 18+ who primarily work in a professional setting and use a computer as part of their job), found that a majority of knowledge workers (74%) would be willing to quit a job that did not allow them to work remotely for a company that offers remote work or work from home options. It also found 26% of knowledge workers have quit a job in the past because the company did not offer the option to work remotely/flexible work schedule.

"When we started Zapier in 2011, building a fully distributed company was very rare. Now, it's a workplace evolution that's shaping the future of work," said Wade Foster, co-founder, and CEO of Zapier. "We've seen how providing both autonomy and trust in your team not only drives productivity, it also increases retention."

Money, Family and Mobility Drive Interest in Remote Work

Nearly all (95%) workers would want to work remotely for one reason or another. The top five reasons knowledge workers want to work remotely are:

To save money: 48%

To have the ability to work from anywhere: 47%

To spend more time with family: 44%

More productive at home: 35%

Better for mental health: 29%

Workers More Productive at Home than at the Office

The majority of knowledge workers (66%) believe the traditional workplace will be obsolete for most roles by 2030, with most positions done remotely.

42% believe they are most productive when working at home, while less than a third (32%) say they get more work done in an office.

While co-working spaces have become popular in recent years, only about one in 10 (11%) say they are most productive in this environment.

Majority Work Remotely Full or Part-time, but a Third Say Company Doesn't Offer Option

Three in five knowledge workers (60%) say they are able to work remotely, either full-time (27%) or part-time (34%).

However, 31% of knowledge workers say their companies don't allow working from home at all.

Gender plays a role for work from home options: 40% of female knowledge workers say they don't work remotely because their company doesn't allow it compared to just a quarter (25%) of their male counterparts.