Nearly half of Hawaii employees were working remotely in August, reflecting 'Hawaii’s changing economic landscape'

Business
Workfromhome 800x450
The COVID-19 pandemic caused more people to work from home than ever before, and some remain in home offices, even two years after the pandemic began. | Canva

A recent study by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) of Hawaii businesses and employees found that an estimated two out of every five (42.4%) private-sector payroll employees were working remotely as of August 31, 2021, including 20,636 working from out of state.

The report is derived from two studies conducted by DBEDT and Anthology Research between last August and January of this year, according to a DBEDT news release, which also noted that the COVID-19 pandemic impacted current work and career plans of both employers and employees. This effort was funded by the State Legislature. 

“The data collected from this study provides a better understanding of Hawaii’s changing economic landscape that both employers and employees are facing largely as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic," Mike McCartney, DBEDT director, said in the news release. 

The survey found that before the onset of the pandemic, just over 15% of the state’s businesses had a long-term remote working plans in place. After the pandemic began, another 23.4% of businesses implemented a new work-from-home a policy. Industries with the most remote employees include technical, professional and scientific services at 75.7%, finance and insurance at 75.5%, and information at 62.8%, according to the DBEDT news release. 

The survey included 1,661 responses from Hawaii-based private employer businesses, while the Survey of Hawaii Civilian Population included 5,451 responses from private payroll workers, self-employed workers, as well as local and state government workers and federal civilian workers.

The report found a variation among counties in terms of how many people worked from home during the pandemic. "Businesses in Honolulu County were most likely to have a remote work policy at some point since March 2020 (44.2%), compared to Maui County (29.0%), Hawaii County (28.8%) and Kauai County (25.5%)," the news release said.

Another survey finding was that although more 90% of workers in Hawaii said they were satisfied with working remotely, only 43.5% expect their employers to allow them to continue working remotely in the future.