COVID-19's impact on work locations over time worldwide 2020

Before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 only 14.4 percent of the respondents primarily worked from home (WFH), which is significantly less compared to the 44.6 percent of respondents who WFH now in the midst of the pandemic. Interestingly enough, respondents answered that many would go back to their respective physical facility or the field after a vaccine is available.

Physical workplaces

However, following the COVID-19 pandemic, the physical workplaces will change as the percentage of personnel that will primarily WFH is projected to be seven percent more than prior to the worldwide pandemic. Other studies have suggested that post-pandemic, almost 50 percent of enterprises worldwide are projected to have a distributed workforce, compared to around 30 percent before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Distributed workforce

A distributed workforce may become the new normal, as it is projected that by 2023, 75 percent of the top Forbes Global 2000 companies will have commitments to a hybrid workforce design. It is worth noting that to work distributedly is different than only working remote, as to "work distributedly" assumes that there is not a single central location to work from. Instead, the company is distributed among various working environments. This allows personnel to engage either locally, remotely, in the field, or switching between locations as they please. This permits for a more fluid working environment, as many throughout the world either like or love WFH.