About 12.7% of people in the US work remotely full time, while about 28% more work remotely a part of the day. This involves their side job (side gig), hybrid work model, or finishing their daily tasks once they return home.

With this type of work clearly on the rise, what are some of the remote work trends that you should be looking out for in 2024? 

1. Shorter work hours and work weeks

Younger generations of workers are no longer obsessed with profit. Instead, the majority of them are preoccupied with a work-life balance. This is further supported by the fact that roughly 90% of them prefer a 4-day work week even if they’re still paid by the hour.

What they realize and their predecessors didn’t is the fact that the only people who will remember if you worked late 20 years from now are your children. All the money in the world doesn’t mean much if you don’t have the time to enjoy it. 

2. Work-life balance

Working from home and having deadlines instead of work hours can allow you to improve your own daily routine. It can help you manage your relationships better and help you avoid having to make too many sacrifices.

There’s further proof that these younger generations value their mental well-being and comfort over profit. For instance, according to one of the latest polls, an average American employee would give up $4,600 per year to work remotely. This is how appealing this way of life has become.

3. Virtual teambuilding

While this was one of the biggest remote work trends in 2023, it’s also expected to be big next year. One of the biggest downsides of remote teams is the fact that it’s hard to keep the loyalty to the team high when you’re not in the office.

Fortunately, teammates can interact virtually. They can participate in online events, play online video games together, have more interactive meetings, etc. These relationships are not parasocial; they’re real; it’s just that they take place in a digital environment. 

4. Performance tracking tools

As well as teambuilding, performance management software that can gather key insights on the effectiveness of employees is another key part of remote working that’s helping ensure it’s a success. Through these tools, employers can monitor employees’ performance from a distance, and the best part is, there’s loads of choice to suit all kinds of companies. 

Many of these tools also have onboarding tools built-in, and time-tracking functionality so you can manage all aspects of the work cycle in one convenient place. And, with many costing as little as $5/user, all companies can use these tools, regardless of their budget.

5. Higher level of cybersecurity

In 2024, there’s no excuse for falling for a phishing scam or having a weak and unpredictable password. Not a lot of people are just starting out this year, which means that you’re expected to show a level of awareness of an industry veteran.

You don’t even have to do it manually; instead, you can go for software made for the storage of passwords, which can solve this issue without inconveniencing you at all. This will keep your passwords unique and randomized, and make it easier to change them every 60 days.

6. Higher inclusivity

Now, we’re not just talking about preferences but opportunities, as well. From now on, moms (and, to a lesser extent, dads) will no longer have to choose between being at home with their kids or going to work as many did in the past. 

This way, even single parents will have an opportunity for an amazing earning potential while still staying to take care of their kids. Sure, this won’t be easy to balance, but it’s an extra opportunity you can’t ignore.

You must also take into account people with disabilities, who are going to get more opportunities to provide for themselves than they ever had in the future. With this higher inclusivity, there’s a much higher chance of finally establishing a truly egalitarian society. 

7. Remote work trends offer opportunities to everyone

For an average employee, this means an amazing job opportunity. A specialist can find a remote job in a country with a much higher living standard. This means they can do their work for four or five times higher pay than they would get in their own country.

At the same time, an employer can hire specialists and experts from countries with a lower standard and pay them a fraction of what they would pay someone from their home country. To the remote employee, this might still be significantly higher than what they would get at home. 

Why is this (a well-established trend) counted among remote work trends in 2024? Well, according to recent statistics, 67% of managers think that next year, more businesses will switch, at least remotely. 

8. Greater emphasis on physical and mental fitness

People working remotely have been noted to display far better physical and mental fitness than their counterparts working from an office. It’s not just the fact that one works in the environment of their own choosing but other related factors, as well.

On average, people working from home experience less burnout (up to 36% of people report so). They also report reduced levels of depression and anxiety. They sleep better, have an option to make healthier food choices and display overall physical health benefits. 

9. Emphasis on eco-friendliness

So far, the majority of remote work proponents have promoted cost-effectiveness and convenience as the strongest factors. From the standpoint of a pragmatist, these are the two most compelling arguments, but the modern audience is a bit more issue-minded. 

After all, remote work eliminates the need for the commute. It also reduces the use of utilities since people would use these resources in their homes either way, regardless of whether they’re working or not. 

The CO2 emissions, resource consumption, and everything related go down when people start working from home. This makes it one of the trends in remote work that might pick up the most in the coming year.

10. Around-the-clock support

Having 24/7 support is no longer an extra feature – it’s a mandatory requirement for anyone doing business in this day and age. This is what makes it one of the biggest remote work trends in 2024. 

Today, you have chatbots to provide this service, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. It’s also worth mentioning that it’s a lot easier to find someone who can work the odd shifts due to the difference in time zones. It might not be as significant as some other benefits of remote work, but it certainly plays an important role.

11. Generational support of remote work

Generational zeitgeist is something that you shouldn’t be too quick to dismiss. With boomers mostly going into retirement or already retired, millennials, Gen Z, and Gen X make up the majority of the modern workforce.

Coincidentally, these generations are all overwhelmingly in support of remote work. This alone would be enough to cement the future of remote work for years and years to come. Needless to say, it’s highly unlikely that future generations (beyond Gen Z) will reverse this trend.

Working from home is amazing, and now everyone knows it

The cat is out of the bag, and no one can pretend that working from home is not an amazing idea. It saves money, offers more opportunities, and improves work-life balance. 

Sure, it has its challenges, but the truth is that these are far more solvable than you think. In other words, the interest in this type of work is only going one way – up. With remote work trends making this offer more and more appealing to entrepreneurs and global workforce alike, the future of this employment model seems quite bright.