Industry News

Recently, the Center for Retirement Research (CRR) at Boston College released its issue brief, Has Remote Work Extended Workers’ Careers? Currently, remote work seems to be a lasting effect of the pandemic. Previous research conducted by CRR has indicated that remote work may help to increase employment for older workers with disabilities. In this study, CRR examined the effects of remote work on those workers without disabilities.

Some of the key findings include:

• For those working remotely, they may be less likely to retire than those that do not work remotely (even controlling for various job characteristics such as sector, industry and earnings).
• The increased flexibility of remote work may result in individuals working longer.
• However, if employers consider that remote work may reduce productivity, it may result in earlier employment departures.

The analysis is based on data from the Current Population Survey’s (CPS) Basic Monthly questionnaire used by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to estimate monthly unemployment rates. According to the survey, those working remotely at least one day per week among workers ages over 55 without any physical, cognitive, or sensory difficulties has ranged between 15% and 24% from October 2022 through February 2025.

The report concludes: “Workers without disabilities who work remotely are 1.4 percentage points less likely to retire with a year relative to an otherwise similar counterpart. Future research should focus on whether this result reflects aspects of remote work that improve career longevity or instead the fact that those desiring longer careers select into these sorts of jobs.”

The brief is available here.