In February, 24.3 % of all employees in Germany worked at least part of the time from home, according to the latest economic survey by the Ifo Institute.
The peak came in March 2021, with a home‑office share of 32.3 %, while August 2024 recorded the lowest level at 23.4 %. Ifo researcher Jean‑Victor Alipour noted that since 2022 roughly a quarter of all workers have been at least partly working from home, and that this pattern remains largely stable across different sectors despite notable inter‑industry differences.
The service sector has the highest proportion of home‑office workers, at 34.9 %. Within services, IT providers lead with 76.4 % working from home, followed by consultants at 67.6 %. In manufacturing, 15.4 % of employees work from home; the share is highest in automotive (24.2 %) and manufacturing of data‑processing equipment (21.9 %).
Retail shows a noticeably lower share, with 12.6 % overall: wholesale at 17.3 % and retail at 5.9 %. Construction has the lowest proportion at 4.5 %. Alipour added that a few companies that heavily restrict remote work do not signal a broader trend; home office remains established.
