“In today’s economy, most occupations can be performed anywhere, so household location decisions are motivated by quality of life. Higher quality of life is strongly correlated with more school spending, the absence of crime and a few key private sector amenities, such as recreational activities.” – Ball State University
In October 2020, 55% of Americans teleworked; 16 months later, in January 2022, full-time telework dropped to 43%, and by October 2023, full-time telework rates had decreased to 35%. Current data, however, indicate that about one-third of Americans are working a hybrid schedule, alternating days at the office with days at home (or away). These trends offer benefits to rural spaces where robust broadband capabilities can support a wide range of telework experiences.
An Agricultural Economics article from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln proposes that telework can create self-fulfilling prophecies of community gain. The article asserts that improvements in technology will lead to increases in the number of people teleworking and speed the transition from paper to digital economies. At the same time, new businesses that never relied on paper processes will provide fertile ground for new telework opportunities. These can be expected to create favorable conditions for employees and potentially reduce worker churn.
Running beneath these trends, however, is a question: Do telework opportunities help local communities grow? A report from the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research finds positive correlations between the number of teleworkers and population growth. The report also identified a positive correlation between seasonal housing and telework; the report suggests these trends indicate that seasonal home growth occurred in areas with natural amenities, and that those amenities could be viewed as making those places more attractive for potential “work anywhere, from anywhere” earners.
The role of natural amenities are studied in a Ball State University report that applies the Rosen-Roback quality of life (QoL) theory to rural employment; the authors find “the effect of QoL on employment growth is more than three times stronger than that on population growth over the same period.” QoL measures three categories of factors: natural, public and private. “Natural” are amenities such as parks, waterways and coastline; “public” refers to government-provided services such as public schools or public safety, while “private” includes recreational outlets and restaurants. Of the three, “private” is the strongest factor to affect QoL. Ball State proposes this may be tied to private sector ability to respond rapidly to market interests.
Telework opportunities are also important as traditional manufacturing jobs in rural areas decline. The Ball State report finds that manufacturing GDP in Indiana increased while manufacturing employment decreased, correlating to increased automation in production. This suggests that manufacturers will be inclined to transition to greater levels of automated production, impelling strategies to identify new work opportunities in rural spaces.
At the same time, affordable housing and childcare remain challenges for many communities. A survey conducted by the Kansas Office of Rural Prosperity of residents ages 21-39 identified childcare obstacles as a barrier to jobs or starting families. The same report recommends supporting programming for K-12 students that highlights the positive aspects of living in rural spaces, indicating the need for long-term, long-tail strategies aimed at youth from infancy through high school.
Telework, however, can mitigate some childcare shortage needs. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management proposes “telework as a workplace flexibility to support employees with caregiver responsibilities, especially young minor children and/or adult dependents for whom an employee provides services essential to their health, well-being, and/or activities of daily living.” While most employers will remind employees that telework arrangements are not intended to substitute for childcare, many may quietly acknowledge that fixing a PB&J is roughly the equivalent of a water cooler break and also incorporate a “flex time” approach to work-from-home arrangements.
Fortuitously, these trends coincide with increasing rates of broadband adoption. Household income (which translates into affordability) remains the single largest barrier to adoption. Strategies to address affordability, particularly where that might stand in the way of telework, can have far reaching community and economic impacts. Encouraging data from a variety of sources supports efforts to promote telework capabilities.