Work from home began as a way to reduce transportation costs for long-distance commuters, but it has evolved into a work arrangement that allows people to live wherever they choose, regardless of their workplace. Work from home means both non-work and...
Work from home began as a way to reduce transportation costs for long-distance commuters, but it has evolved into a work arrangement that allows people to live wherever they choose, regardless of their workplace. Work from home means both non-work and work activities occur at home, concentrating all daily life activities into a single space. If reduced commuting costs lead to increased housing costs in specific cities, the benefits of working from home risk being concentrated among certain groups and cities, potentially deepening regional imbalances and widening housing cost disparities. Therefore, empirical analysis was conducted on the characteristics of residents working from home, including before and after the spread of working from home domestically, to identify its effects. Using data from Statistics Korea's 2009, 2014, 2019, and 2024 Time Use Surveys, the influence on whether residents work from home and the duration of such work was analyzed according to their demographic, location, and industry characteristics.
The characteristics of residents influencing work from home status initially highlighted demographic factors like gender and age, but over time, variables linked to job roles such as education level and income gained prominence among these demographics. The likelihood of work from home increased with higher education levels and income. By 2024, when remote work peaked, differences based on metropolitan area residency and industry were particularly pronounced. Commute time also showed a stronger negative impact in 2019 and 2024, indicating a clearer spatial pattern among remote workers. Analysis of residents' location characteristics based on the amount of work from home time also showed significant differences in commute time and residential area. Shorter commute times correlated with longer work from home hours, suggesting either a weaker link between workplace and residence or that residents with a high proportion of work from home tend to live near their workplace. Annual analysis revealed that the gap in working from home hours widened between residents in the metropolitan area and those outside it, as the former gradually increased their work from home. Regarding demographic characteristics, consistent with the analysis based on work from home status, household size and the presence of preschool-aged children showed no significant effect. Over time, gender and monthly average income disparities narrowed, while differences based on education level intensified. Regarding industry characteristics, only in 2019 and 2024 did some workers in knowledge service industries show longer work from home hours than those in other industries. In 2019, this positive relationship was seen in education services, arts, sports, and recreation services, and professional, scientific, and technical services. In 2024, it was observed only in information and communications technology and professional, scientific, and technical services. Related industries can be expected to maintain or even improve productivity through working from home, leading to longer work from home hours for their employees compared to other industries. Therefore, the potential and prevalence of working from home may be concentrated based on residents' work characteristics, such as living in the metropolitan area, having short commutes, possessing higher education, and working in the knowledge service industry.