Who Can Work From Home?

Working from home can be a wonderful experience, but the majority of the workforce is unable to have the privilege. Certain jobs are just better suited for on-site work than others! 

According to a recent study done by an Assistant Professor at The Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) at the University of Washington, “Just 25% of U.S. workers are in jobs that can easily be done from home,” leaving 75% of jobs in the workforce to be difficult or unable to be performed remotely. Data collected from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) demonstrates who can work from home more conveniently than others. 

Making up 25% of the workforce, occupations that could be practically worked from home are those with a combination of high computer usage and low public interaction. The study reveals that this category includes jobs related to business, computer science, engineering, finance, and management. 

The remaining jobs in the workforce proved to be less conveniently operated from home. The combination of factors that lessen individuals’ capability of working from home includes low computer usage and low public interaction; such as activities in manufacturing, industrial process, and material movement. In addition, other occupations that rely highly on computer usage and highly on public interaction cannot be worked as conveniently from home, like professions in healthcare and education. 

Industries that are least likely, or can not be performed from home at all are jobs that involve a combination of low computer usage and high public interaction. The most difficult jobs to function remotely are those in retail, food service, hospitality, personal care services, and transportation. 

Although the convenience of working from home has become more common for 25% percent of the workforce, it is still difficult for 75% of jobs in the workforce to be capable of doing so from home. It comes down to a tug-of-war between computer usage and public interaction that determines whether your job can be performed more or less easily from an off-site location, such as the comfort of your own home. 

Study: https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2020.305738 

Article: https://deohs.washington.edu/hsm-blog/most-people-cant-work-home