Employees who work remotely save about an hour on commuting per day, and allocate extra time to sleeping more, doing household chores, and looking after their kids, among other things, a new Statistics Canada study has found.
The data from the 2022 âTime Use Surveyâ released on Wedneday is the first study StatCan has published in more than 10 years on teleworking and time use, and the first since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, when Canada saw a massive rise in people working from home.
It includes data collected from July 2022 to July 2023 from more than 12,300 people aged 15 and older across 10 provinces who are not institutionalized or living on First Nations reserves.Â
StatsCan numbers show that highly paid Canadians in big cities benefit the most from working remotely.
Overall, the study found that employees were more satisfied with their work-life balance when they worked from home.
Responses were collected from three categories of workers: non-teleworkers (people who did not work remotely the week before and reported their experience while working on-site); on-site teleworkers (people who worked remotely the week prior but worked on-site during reporting); and work-from-home teleworkers (people who worked remotely the week prior and on the day of reporting).
Remote workers save time when theyâre not commuting â or getting ready
Employees working remotely saved about an hour by not having to commute on the days they worked from home, the study found.Â
Non-teleworkers (those who worked on-site the week prior and during reporting) spent 63 minutes commuting and on-site teleworkers (people who worked remotely the week prior but worked on-site during reporting) commuted 74 minutes.
Additionally, people working from home reported spending significantly less time on personal care than others â 24 minutes less than non-teleworkers and 17 minutes less than on-site teleworkers.
However, paid work time did not differ between any of the worker categories after accounting for sociodemographic and job characteristics.
Working from home leaves more time for sleep, eating and leisure
Contrary to popular belief, writes Gleb Tsipursky, remote workers are not besieged by distractions but have routines that foster concentration.
Employees who worked from home had more time to sleep, getting 19 to 23 minutes more of shut-eye when compared to on-site and non-teleworkers, respectively.Â
They also reported having a few extra minutes in their day to eat and drink, about nine minutes more than non-teleworkers and 14 minutes more than on-site teleworkers, the study found.
Plus, staying at home gave remote employees about half an hour more of leisure time in their day when compared to both other worker categories (about two hours in total compared to an hour and a half). The leisure time included activities like exercise, watching television, and playing games or making art.
Remote workers spend more time on housework and childcare, but there is a gender gap
According to the study, both men and women spent more time on housework and childcare on the days that they worked from home, which the study found may be key in balancing the demands of work and personal life.
However, there was a gender gap in both.
The hybrid model â with employees spending part of their time in-office and part working remotely â is the preferred option for both, survey suggests.
Women working from home spent about 100 minutes in total doing unpaid housework, compared to about 60 minutes men spent. Overall, working from home was associated with about 16 more minutes on unpaid housework compared to the other workers.
Men and women both spent more time caring for children on the days that they worked from home, about 1.2 hours more, but on average, mothers spent about 50 minutes more with children than fathers, regardless of whether or not they worked from home.
Working on-site adds feelings of pressure and constant stress
Altogether, remote employees were 12 to 14 percentage points more likely than non-teleworkers and on-site teleworkers, respectively, to be satisfied or very satisfied with their work-life balance.
With the next generation of workers accustomed to working from home, employers and workers differ on what a traditional career should look like.
On-site teleworkers (those who worked remotely the week prior but worked on-site during reporting), meanwhile, were the most likely to have higher levels of time pressure, even after controlling for sociodemographic and job characteristics that might have an impact. These workers were more likely to report being under constant stress, sleeping less and being worried that they didnât spend enough time with loved ones.
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