How COVID-19 Reshaped Remote Work Across Europe
When the COVID-19 outbreak escalated quickly in March 2020, numerous individuals received directives to remain indoors, which resulted in an increase in telecommuting.
The EU organization 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 removed and social distancing now part of our past, what effects has the COVID-19 pandemic left on our working habits, and how might this shape the next half-decade ahead?
'We find ourselves at a plateau.'
Vargas Llave said the number of employees working either full-time remote or in a hybrid arrangement since the pandemic has stabilised.
Eurostat's 2023 Labour Force Survey found that 22.2 per cent of EU adults work from home "usually" or "sometimes," down from just over 24 per cent in 2021.
This stabilisation of remote and hybrid workers goes against what people assumed would be a sharp drop in remote work after the pandemic’s end, Vargas Llave said.
“We are in a plateau,” Vargas Llave said. “The possibility of working from home hasn’t [been] cemented in European workplaces”.
He added, however, that the percentage of workers that are fully remote has always been small and that this was exceptional during COVID-19.
Whether an employee can work remotely after the pandemic depends on the type of job they are doing, Vargas Llave said.
For example, jobs in informational technology (IT), finance, and education are more likely to be done remotely, according to the 2022 Eurofound report , where agriculture, construction, and hospitality activities take place on-site.
Nhlamu Dlomu, who leads the global human resources department at consultancy firm KPMG, mentioned that customer-oriented positions within her organization frequently necessitate face-to-face interactions and are thus less inclined to operate entirely remotely.
In the end, Dlomu stated that it is upon each manager to determine with their staff how frequently they should be working on-site versus remotely.
Vargas Llave and Dlomu indicate that KPMG’s approach mirrors practices seen at other firms since many hybrid or fully remote 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 these work environments tend to have stricter regulations.
An 'alignment issue' between employee expectations and company goals
According to LinkedIn statistics for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, nearly forty percent of job postings on the platform are now hybrid roles, whereas completely remote positions account for approximately five percent of listings in this area, a decrease from their highest 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 jobs listed on the platform were fully remote positions prior to the onset of COVID-19.
Vasiljev mentioned that during the period from 2021 to 2023, businesses promoted work-from-home options because they acknowledged "flexibility as a means to draw talented individuals."
Now, they are cutting back on those postings to prioritize "face-to-face collaboration, productivity, and company culture," she explained.
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.
Vasiljev noted in an email to Euronews Next that this discrepancy between supply and demand indicates professionals continue to value flexibility despite employers shifting towards hybrid models.
Vasiljev further explained that the largest discrepancy exists 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 offering flexibility remains an effective strategy for attracting skilled individuals.
Remote work opportunities vary across the European Union.
Vargas Llame mentioned that the amount of people working remotely differs significantly across the European Union.
Statistics from the Eurostat Labour Force Survey indicates that the country with the largest number of remote workers is the Netherlands, where 52 percent of employees logged some portion of their work hours remotely in 2023.
The data revealed that Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Luxembourg have between 40% and 45% of their workforce engaged in partial remote work. Norway and Iceland, though not members of the European Union, fall within this same range as well.
Bulgaria and Romania, as new EU members, report the lowest percentages of part-time remote workers, with 2% and 3%, respectively.
"There are less job opportunities [in Bulgaria and Romania] that heavily 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 undeveloped.
Countries like The Netherlands and those in Scandinavia had high levels of telecommuting long before the pandemic began, making their increased uptake of remote work after the outbreak not particularly shocking for Vargas Llave.
The future is hybrid
Vargas Llave mentioned that many employees and businesses favor a hybrid work arrangement since this setup allows them to interact socially with their coworkers and collaborate effectively whenever 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 at least 2030.
It seemed like Hybrid initially made some people uncomfortable as they tried to get into the groove... I believe that has shifted," Dlomu stated. "It has grown more sophisticated now.
Vargas Llava predicts that by 2030, there will be "only a slight rise" in remote work employment, as an increasing number of positions will emerge within the digitizing job market.
Vargas Llave stated that "there will never be a scenario where we work exclusively from home again," emphasizing that this was an exceptional measure during the pandemic period.
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 the manner in which individuals interact with one another.
"We each lost loved ones and many fell sick... thus, it was an arduous period for every one of us as humans," she stated.
However, concurrently, what surfaced was an enhancement in our communication methods through technological means.
