Home office on the withdrawal: What does that mean for the future of work?

Home office on the withdrawal: What does that mean for the future of work?

Österreich - Coronapandemia has revolutionized the world of work and established a trend towards home work across all industries. As Krone , millions of employees were forced to leave their offices and switch to home office, a model that has now been firmly established in many companies, especially in the service and IT sector. But the times of the home office seem to change: in the USA, where companies such as Amazon and Google are calling for return to the office, a clear trend can be observed. A similar trend is also evident in Austria: the number of people working from home from 848,000 in 2021 to around 743,000 in 2023.

decline in home work and new legal regulations

The declining use of the home office after pandemic is unmistakable, as the latest analyzes show. An investigation by the ZEW confirms that 80 percent of the information industry's fields work from the home office at least once a week, while in the processing business this share is only 45 percent. Compared to previous years, however, the general proportion of those who work regularly drops from home. The government has responded to this change and since January 1, 2025, new legal provisions have applied that introduce the term “teleworking”. As a result, employees now have the opportunity to work from home, but also from other places such as kaffehäuser or with relatives, provided that they have a corresponding agreement with their employer.

The changes in the work environment could be more than just a temporary matter. The current situation indicates that many companies are planning to expand home office offers in the next few years. 58 percent of companies in the information industry and 19 percent in the processing of businesses expect an increase in home work, which indicates a continuing trend. However, it should be noted that almost 90 percent of companies that currently do not offer a home office have no plans in the next two years, as the ZEW stated.