ven before the pandemic, working from home was a growing trend. Publications including Forbes, The New York Times, Insight, Inc., Marketplace, and countless others have all written about younger generations, namely Millennials, demanding changes to the nature and culture of the workplace to find a better balance between work and life.

According to the Forbes article “Millennials Want A Healthy Work-Life Balance. Here’s What Bosses Can Do.” by Franziska Alesso-Bendisch, approximately 50 percent of workers are now considered Millennials, and their sheer numbers are having an effect.

She writes, “It is best to view work-life balance more as integration, rather than equilibrium. Millennials seek flexibility in their roles that allows them to thrive outside of work.” And for many, the option to work remotely is key.

COVID-19 took that growing trend and exploded it.

Much of the workforce picked up and went home to work for most of 2020, finding solutions to whatever problems arose. So now many are looking at their traditional office and thinking: why go back? And employers are examining their workspace footprints and wondering: would a smaller office make more sense for everyone?

This month in Alaska Trends we present data (from the State of Alaska [SOA] Teleworking Experience Survey and the August 2021 issue of Alaska Economic Trends) and questions. Both are important as Alaskans make long-term decisions about how—and where—we’re going to work and live.