Swedish office workers worked an average of 1.77 days a week from home in 2025. The total scope of remote work has thus stabilized and remained almost completely unchanged at around 1.8 days per week ever since 2022. This is shown in the report Vem wille jobbord hem från? from the independent research institute Ratio.
- Despite a loud public discussion about "back to office", remote work seems to have been established as a completely normal part of modern working life. What is changing today is rather the forms – it is the hybrid work that has become the new standard, notes Jonas Grafström, vice president and PhD in economics at Ratio.
How do you explain that the hybrid model has established itself so much more strongly in Sweden than in the US and parts of southern Europe, where employees to a greater extent have to return completely to the offices?
- It could be that the Swedish culture of trust allows greater co-determination and autonomy. In the USA and southern Europe there are more hierarchical work cultures. It could also be that Swedish managers have seen that home work actually works.
- An interesting observation is that there are actually more people working at home now than during the final phase of the pandemic in 2022, but now it's about one to two days and not three to four days like then.
But beneath the surface there is still a clear crack in the view of flexible working hours. The report shows that only 25 percent of the managers surveyed state that the possibility of remote work is "very important". This can be directly contrasted with employees without personnel responsibility, where the corresponding figure is 35 percent.
This difference in attitude is also reflected in how the different groups actually choose to act in the office. Among the people who have a real opportunity to work from home, fully 34 percent of the managers state that they do not work remotely at all. Among other employees, on the other hand, only 22 percent opt out of telecommuting altogether. Among them are many young people.
- We see that they like being at work more than older people. Maybe they have a greater need to learn.
Are there any risks with some being in the office more than others?
- There may be a risk of an A team and a B team emerging. Many decisions are made during breaks, before and after meetings. It is easier to talk further and post new information on whoever is there. We have seen studies that indicate that those who are at work a lot have a greater chance of promotion. We have also seen that those who are in the office more receive more feedback.
Why then do managers choose the office to such a much greater extent? The explanation is largely about internal and external expectations. Among the managers who completely refrain from remote work, 68 percent state that it is important to be physically present in order to "be seen and heard" in front of their employees - a percentage that has also clearly increased since 2022.
But there are also practical reasons connected with the leadership role. Being responsible for coordination, operational leadership, statutory work environment and the final results of the business are simply tasks that, according to the report, are perceived as significantly more difficult to manage remotely than individual, defined production tasks.
- I think it is difficult for managers to adjust to more home work. It is probably part of the leadership to be on site. Perhaps it is also something you choose, a reason why a certain type of person becomes a manager. It may not necessarily be bad, but it will be interesting to follow the consequences.
For the employees, however, remote work is largely about practical everyday logistics and quality of life. The report shows very clearly that hybrid work is most widespread in the 35–49 age range and among people with children.
- It is during those years that the life puzzle requires the most flexibility and where working from home functions as an important valve to make everyday life work, says Jonas Grafström.
