Some 25% of Germany‘s employed population worked from home at least occasionally last year, according to new data from Destatis, the federal statistics office.
This is a slight increase on previous years (24% in 2024 and 23% in 2023), Destatis noted, adding that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the share of people that worked from home occasionally was 13%.
While working from home is now used less extensively than during the pandemic, around a quarter (24%) of those that worked from home last year did so exclusively, while 46% worked from home less than half of their working days, on a par with the previous year.
‘In 2021, a year heavily impacted by the pandemic, the proportions were even more clearly shifted towards working from home – at that time, 40% of users worked entirely from home, and 31% worked from home less often than at the workplace,’ Destatis noted.
Company size
The size of companies also influenced home office use. In small enterprises with fewer than 50 employees, 19% of workers used home offices at least occasionally. In medium-sized firms with 50 to 249 employees, the share increased to 23%. In large companies with at least 250 employees, meanwhile, it reached 35%.
In terms of the different age cohorts, meanwhile, workers aged 35 to 44 had the highest usage rate among those working from home at least occasionally, at 30%. This was followed by the 25 to 34 age group at 28%. Lower levels were recorded among younger workers aged 15 to 24 at 10%, and among those aged 55 to 64 at 22%.
Sector by sector
Sectoral differences were also notable – IT services and business consulting recorded the highest levels of home office use, with 74% of employees working from home at least occasionally. Information services and insurance-related sectors also recorded high levels, both at 68%.
By contrast, hospitality recorded a rate of 6%, while construction-related services and retail-related activities ranged between 7% and 10%. Read more here.
