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Home Sweet Home: How Much Do Employees Value Remote Work?

By: Zoë B. Cullen, Bobak Pakzad-Hurson and Ricardo Perez-Truglia
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:21
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Abstract

We estimate the value employees place on remote work using revealed preferences in a high-stakes, real-world context, focusing on U.S. tech workers. On average, employees are willing to accept a 25% pay cut for partly or fully remote roles. Our estimates are three to five times that of previous studies. We attribute this discrepancy partly to methodological differences, suggesting that existing methods may understate preferences for remote work. Because of the strong preference for remote work, we expected to find a compensating wage differential, with remote positions offering lower compensation than otherwise identical in-person positions. However, using novel data on salaries for tech jobs, we reject that hypothesis. We propose potential explanations for this puzzle, including optimization frictions and worker sorting.

Keywords

Employees; Compensation and Benefits; Satisfaction; Value; Research

Citation

Cullen, Zoë B., Bobak Pakzad-Hurson, and Ricardo Perez-Truglia. "Home Sweet Home: How Much Do Employees Value Remote Work?" NBER Working Paper Series, No. 33383, January 2025.

About The Author

Zoe B. Cullen

Entrepreneurial Management
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