One of the biggest changes to employment coming out of the pandemic is the huge increase in the percentage of people working from home. While not every job is able to be done remotely, the ability to work from home is a major recruitment factor for many positions as people demand more ways they can remain productive while finding work-life balance. Our current tight labor market has made more employers open to remote work – whether a few days a week or 100% time from home. Among midwestern states, Minnesota is at the leading edge of employers allowing remote work.

"A really interesting outcome of our research into remote work trends was revealing just how much more Minnesota workers are able to work from home compared to workers in neighboring states," said Regional Analysis & Outreach Manager Cameron Macht. "This could be due to multiple factors – from industry and occupation mix in Minnesota compared to surrounding states, the tightness of our labor market pushing more employers to offer this option, and other factors."

According to U.S. Census Bureau survey results from February of 2023, almost one quarter of Minnesota workers worked from home at least three days each week. At that rate, Minnesota ranked 9th among the 50 states at 23.5%, well ahead of the U.S. average of 20.1%. Minnesota sticks out in the Midwest for the ability to work from home, with more than double the concentration seen in North Dakota (10.2%) and nearly double South Dakota (12.6%), and well ahead of Iowa (14.5%), Nebraska (16.2%), and Wisconsin (16.7%).

"The ability to work from home several days a week or every day is really a big attraction point for many people looking for work now," said Gina Meixner, a career counselor at DEED's CareerForce office in Bloomington. "Nearly half those who have the opportunity to do so want to remain working from home at least part of their work week. There's also an increase in interest among others who have not had the opportunity to work remotely, such as people currently working in-person jobs. Many people are willing to change careers to 'do anything' just for the chance to work from home. Wanting to avoid a commute, high gas prices and needing to address a lack of childcare are the biggest draws."

Find out more about remote work in Minnesota in the article Working from Home is Working by Cameron Macht in the current edition of Minnesota Economic Trends.