More Homeworkers After COVID-19? Evidence from Registry Data

This paper focuses on how working from home was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. The literature asserts that the pandemic increased working from home and reduced commuting trips. This evidence is based on different types of surveys, where the focus is on changes in commuting trips and mode choice. This paper takes another approach by using Norwegian registry data at the individual level. The analysis demonstrates that the extent of job changes reduced during the pandemic and that the likelihood of changing workplaces was reduced in areas with a high number of COVID-19 cases. Hence, the effect is the opposite of the findings in the literature. The decline is the largest in the service industries, where the possibility of working from home is good, and lowest for industries that produce physical products. The effects in place-based industries, such as primary industries, manufacturing, and construction, show a small and positive impact. Hence, any increase in homeworkers is, in contrast to surveys, not visible when considering registry data.