When the coronavirus outbreak escalated quickly in March 2020, numerous individuals received orders to remain indoors, which led to an increase in telecommuting.
The EU agency Eurofound, which gathered information from more than 250,000 entries, people through seven e-surveys on working conditions before and during the pandemic, found that COVID-19 brought about a rapid pivot to remote work that’s still in place today.
Oscar Vargas Llave, a Eurofound researcher, informed Euronews Next that during the height of the pandemic, 23 percent of the European Union's workforce was engaged in remote work, an increase from only 14 percent in 2019.
In a 2022 report Eurofound stated that without the pandemic, remote work would not have increased significantly until 2027.
With the masks now removed and social distancing becoming part of history, what effects has the COVID-19 pandemic left on our working habits, and how might these changes shape the coming half-decade?
'We find ourselves at a standstill.'
Vargas Llava stated that the count of staff members who have been employed under either full-time remote work or a hybrid model has stabilized since the outbreak of the pandemic.
According to Eurostat's 2023 Labour Force Survey, 22.2% of European Union adults typically or occasionally work remotely, which is a decrease from slightly more than 24% in 2021.
The stabilization of remote and hybrid workers contradicts the assumption that there would be a significant decline in remote work following the end of the pandemic, according to Vargas Llame.
We find ourselves at a standstill," Vargas Llave stated. "The option of remote work has not yet been firmly established in European offices.
However, he noted that the proportion of employees who were completely remote had consistently remained low, with this situation being extraordinary due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vargas Llave stated that whether employees can continue working remotely post-pandemic hinges on the nature of their jobs.
For instance, roles in information technology (IT), finance, and education have a higher likelihood of being performed remotely, as indicated by the 2022 Eurofound report. report , where agriculture, construction, and hospitality activities take place on-site.
Ndlou Dlomu, who leads human resources globally for the consultancy firm KPMG, mentioned that customer-oriented positions within her organization frequently necessitate face-to-face interactions and thus are less inclined towards complete remote work.
In the end, Dlomu stated that it is upon each manager to determine with their staff how frequently they should be working on-site or remotely.
Vargas Llava and Dlomu indicate that KPMG’s approach mirrors practices at other firms since many hybrid or fullyremote work arrangements typically involve agreements between employees and managers.
Wider “Return to Office” mandates are probably found in bigger corporations, according to Vargas Llave, as those environments tend to have stricter regulations.
An 'alignment issue' between employee expectations and company offerings
According to LinkedIn data for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, nearly forty percent of job postings on the platform are now hybrid roles. In contrast, completely remote positions account for approximately five percent of listings in this area, a decrease from their high point of eleven percent in 2021.
Tamara Basic Vasiljev, who leads economics at LinkedIn for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, stated that only 1 percent of available job listings on the platform were fully remote prior to the onset of COVID-19.
Vasiljev mentioned that during the period from 2021 to 2023, businesses promoted work-from-home positions because they acknowledged "flexibility as a means to draw talented individuals."
Now, they are prioritizing "face-to-face interaction, productivity, and company culture" in these posts, she mentioned.
In 2025, remote job listings attracted three times more interest than hybrid or full-time office roles, as Vasiljev pointed out, indicating a "discrepancy" between employee preferences and available options.
"This disparity between supply and demand indicates that professionals continue to value flexibility, even as companies shift towards hybrid models," Vasiljev stated in an email to Euronews Next.
Vasiljev went on to say that the largest discrepancy can be seen in the Netherlands, with demand being six times greater for these positions compared to what is listed on LinkedIn.
She attributes this distinction to professionals in this nation who aim to "minimize commute duration, manage childcare duties, or operate across international markets."
Certain markets such as Germany defy the general pattern. According to Vasiljev, job hunters in the nation would have observed a 25 percent rise year over year in available hybrid positions. This surge can be attributed to Germany’s tight labor market, where adaptability remains an effective strategy for attracting skilled individuals.
Remote-first jobs vary across the European Union.
Vargas Llleve mentioned that the number of remote workers differs significantly across the European Union.
Statistics from the Eurostat Labour Force Survey indicates that the largest number of remote workers is in the Netherlands, with 52 percent of employees logging in for some telecommuting hours in 2023.
The data revealed that Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Luxembourg have between 40% and 45% of their workforce engaging in remote work for at least some portion of their jobs. Norway and Iceland, though not members of the EU, also fall within this same percentage range.
Bulgaria and Romania, new members of the EU, report the lowest percentages of part-time remote workers, with 2% and 3%, respectively.
"There are less job opportunities in Bulgaria and Romania that widely utilize digital tools; however, this issue is also linked to the cultural approach towards work," Vargas Llave stated.
The ability to work from any location at any time remains underdeveloped.
The Netherlands and Nordic nations already exhibited significant levels of telecommuting prior to the outbreak of the pandemic, making their increased uptake after it not particularly astonishing for Vargas Llave.
The future is hybrid
Vargas Llave stated that many employees and businesses favor a hybrid work arrangement since this setup allows them to interact socially with their coworkers and collaborate effectively when necessary.
Eurofound's 2024 quality of life report found The wish to work solely from home has increased from 13 percent in 2020 to 24 percent in 2024, and more than half of both men and women prefer to work from home multiple days each week.
Dlomu noted that companies still face certain pressures, such as figuring out how to sustain a positive corporate culture when employees are apart.
Nevertheless, she thinks that the current model of hybrid work will persist until 2030.
It seemed that Hybrid initially made some people uneasy as they tried to adapt... but I believe that has shifted," Dlomu stated. "It has grown more sophisticated.
Vargas Llava predicts that by 2030, there will be only a slight rise in remote workforces due to the growing number of positions tied to an increasingly digitized professional environment.
Vargas Llave stated that "the scenario of exclusively working from home will never return," emphasizing that this arrangement was merely an exception during the pandemic era.
Vargas Lllosa forecasts that the differences among nations will persist, even with EU efforts promoting adaptable workplace practices.
For Dlomu, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic lies in how it altered human communication methods.
"We each lost loved ones and we all fell sick... so it was a difficult period for all of us as humans," she stated.
However, concurrently, what came out of this was an enhancement in our communication methods through technological means.
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