Five Years Later: The Post-COVID Workplace

Shelter in place. Social distancing. Mask mandates. Work from home.

Image of 5 year timeline from 2020 to 2025.

Although the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic seem far behind us, today's workplaces are still wrestling with its effects five years later.

Throughout the pandemic, Gallup measured how people's work and lives changed. This effort included surveys of more than 400,000 employees over the past five years.

Our workplace scientists recently reviewed everything we've learned since the early days of the pandemic to provide a closer look at 12 ways workplaces have transformed since 2020.

Explore: The Post-Pandemic Workplace: The Experiment Continues

The Shift to Remote and Hybrid Work

Line Chart: Over Half of U.S. Remote-Capable Employees Are Hybrid

In 2019, 60% of remote-capable employees worked fully on-site.

By March 2020, 70% had gone fully remote.

Today, 80% participate in remote work to some degree.

When asked about the greatest advantages of hybrid work, employees report improved work-life balance, more efficient use of time, less burnout at work and more autonomy.

Employers tend to agree with these benefits for employees — and add that their organization benefits from less turnover, a better employee value proposition and a larger talent pool.

However, employees and employers also agree that the greatest risks of hybrid work tend to come from frayed communication, collaboration, culture and coworker relationships. Leaders also worry about decreased productivity and innovation.

Today, most employees work from their preferred location and expect to continue working there long-term. Nevertheless, return-to-office mandates in 2025 could disrupt this stability.

The Full Story: The Post-Pandemic Workplace: The Experiment Continues

The Fall of Employee Engagement

Line Chart: U.S. Employee Engagement Trend

After years of improvement, employee engagement took a turn for the worse in 2021. By 2024, the percentage of employees who are engaged at work fell to a 10-year low.

Out of Gallup's 12 elements of employee engagement, the item that saw the largest drop was “I know what is expected of me at work.” In 2019, 55% of employees fully knew what was expected of them. This number plummeted when the pandemic hit and fell to a new record low in 2024 (44%).

These trends suggest that the rapid transformation of business in the wake of COVID-19 — involving everything from work location to customer expectations — upended the norms and mutual understanding that governed employer-employee relationships for many years.

Clarifying role expectations and reconnecting employees to their organization's mission remains a critical challenge for leaders in today's workplace.

The Full Story: The Post-Pandemic Workplace: The Experiment Continues

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