WORKFORCE STRATEGY & BUSINESS COSTS · SEPTEMBER 25, 2026
Flexible Schedules Reach 57% as One-Third of Workers Work From Home
BLS found that 57% of wage and salary workers had flexible start and end times in 2024–25, 34% sometimes worked at home, and 15% usually worked a non-daytime schedule.
What BLS released on September 24
Source publication date: September 24, 2026. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 57% of wage and salary workers had a flexible schedule in 2024–25 that allowed them to vary starting and ending times. About 34%, or 51 million workers, sometimes worked at home, while 28% had days on which they worked only at home. The estimates cover a worker's sole or main wage-and-salary job and exclude the self-employed.
- 0134% sometimes worked at home
- 0259% knew schedules 4+ weeks ahead
- 0315% worked non-daytime schedules
Remote access and schedule flexibility often moved together
BLS found that 37% of wage and salary workers could work at home. Among workers who could work from home, 78% had flexible start and stop times, compared with 44% of those who could not. The report also found that 59% of workers knew their schedules at least four weeks in advance, while 9% received one day or less of notice. These national averages do not measure a specific employer's output, collaboration, retention, cybersecurity, or facility utilization.
Industry operating models still differ sharply
Fifteen percent of workers usually had a non-daytime schedule, including evening, night, rotating, split, irregular, and other schedules. Non-daytime work was more common in leisure and hospitality at 40%, transportation and utilities at 25%, and wholesale and retail trade at 20%. Construction and extraction workers without schedule flexibility were also more likely to receive very short notice. Business models, customer coverage, equipment use, safety, and local labor supply shape what is workable.
Practical borrower takeaway
Document which roles require onsite coverage, which can work remotely, shift and overtime needs, schedule-notice practices, technology and cybersecurity cost, management capacity, and the effect on leased space or future expansion. Tie those policies to headcount, payroll, productivity, customer service, occupancy cost, and a continuity plan. Lenders will generally rely on the company's actual operating evidence and forecast assumptions, not a national flexibility percentage.
Borrowers should connect workplace policies to measurable space needs, technology, supervision, recruiting, payroll, productivity, and continuity assumptions in the financing plan.
Discuss a financing need →This independent summary is based on the cited source and is provided for general educational purposes only. Terms and program requirements may change.