Teleworking breaks records in Spain, but is still far from the European average and that of the most advanced countries.

In Spain, remote work is rarely done compared to other European countries: only 15.4% of the working population does so, compared to the European average of 22.6%. However, despite the depth of the gap, it narrowed slightly in 2024, as remote employment grew more in Spain (1.2 percentage points) than in the EU-27 average (0.4 percentage points). This is evident from the latest figures published by Eurostat , which also illustrate how far behind Spain is compared to the most advanced countries in this area. In the Netherlands, for example, 52% of employees spend part of their workday at home.

The European Statistics Portal provides an overview of the evolution of this variable in Spain since 1992. At that time, teleworking was almost anecdotal, a modality applied to between 1% and 2% of the workforce. The development of technology boosted these percentages at the beginning of the 21st century, reaching an initial peak of 7.5% in 2013. As in previous years, the European average (11.9%) far exceeded the Spanish figure; and the gap widened further in subsequent years, as Europe grew and Spain reduced teleworking. In 2016, 6.4% of employees teleworked in Spain, while the EU average was 13.1%, more than double.

These percentages then increased slightly until the event that boosted remote work like never before : the coronavirus health crisis. Lockdowns to protect the population boosted the Spanish proportion to 15.1% and the European one to 20.7%. Both variables increased further in 2021, to 15.3% and 24%, respectively. Both the Spanish and European figures fell in 2022, with the end of the pandemic. In 2024, they rebounded again, especially in Spain, reaching 15.4%, three-tenths of a percentage point above the previous record.

“The figures are very compelling: we're at teleworking rates not seen since the fall of the COVID-19 year, with 3.2 million people working remotely right now,” analyzes José Varela, Head of Digitalization at UGT. “When it became clear that the pandemic was a thing of the past, companies began to massively repeal COVID-related teleworking agreements,” the union leader recalls, but immediately clarifies that “the effect of remote work had already taken hold, marking a turning point in workers' mindsets.” This explains the post-COVID slump and the subsequent upswing: “Collective bargaining negotiations began to prioritize teleworking, and that began to yield results,” he explains.

Teleworking sometimes or usually

The 15.4% percentage is the sum of the two types of teleworking distinguished by Eurostat . The EU statistical office differentiates between those employed who telework "normally" and those who do so "sometimes." The former are those who perform any productive work related to their current job at home for at least half of their working days. In other words, this group is the one that teleworks the most, compared to the latter, where they work only a few hours a week.

The disaggregated data shows that those who regularly telework make up 7.8% of the Spanish workforce. This is a significant increase compared to 2023, of seven-tenths, but still far from the pandemic record, with 10.9% in 2020 and 9.4% in 2021. 2023 is the first increase in this percentage since it began to fall following the health crisis, which could indicate a change in trend. Along the same lines, the portion of those who say they sometimes telework is increasing in Spain: from 7.1% in 2023 to 7.6% in 2024. This percentage has risen consistently since the coronavirus crisis.

The European countries with the highest proportion of teleworkers (combining both modes) are the Netherlands (52%), Sweden (45.6%), Luxembourg (42.8%), Norway (42.5%), and Denmark (41.1%). At the opposite end of the spectrum are Hungary (9%), Greece (7.8%), Serbia (7.6%), Romania (3.5%), and Bulgaria (3%).

According to experts, the proportion of teleworkers in a country depends on several factors: the general position of companies, the regulatory framework, and, especially, the productive structure . Spain has, on average, more small and medium-sized businesses than other European countries, and teleworking is less common in SMEs than in large companies. Also often working against teleworking are lower-value-added activities (such as agriculture or hospitality), which are more prominent in Spain than in northern European countries.

But this isn't a fixed formula. "Portugal and Malta surpass us by five and eleven points in teleworking and also have a GDP strongly linked to tourism, hospitality, and in-person customer service," Varela points out. Furthermore, Spain is timidly changing in both parameters : its companies are becoming larger, and the most productive activities are gaining ground in total employment, two phenomena that may be contributing to the recent rise of teleworking.

Companies against

On the other hand, some companies have been backtracking on their remote work policies for some time now, including major American multinationals such as Tesla, Amazon, Goldman Sachs, and JP Morgan. The phenomenon has also occurred in Spain, in companies such as Holaluz and even in the public sector . This coexists with increasingly advanced computer and communication systems, which facilitate this work modality, and with labor shortages in certain sectors, making remote work an attractive way to attract candidates . The greater the demand for employees and the lower the supply, the more options workers have to demand remote work.

“Eurostat data confirms that the supposed decline in teleworking, at least in our country and at this time, is more in the realm of corporate statements and headlines than in the reality of the workplace. Declarations are one thing, and the reality shown by the metrics is quite another: teleworking is possible, it works, and it is beginning to take hold,” Varela maintains.

The unionist believes that Spain's "low-digitalization business structure" and a "lower presence of highly qualified profiles than our European neighbors" are influential. He also considers business culture to be key: "We still have many employers stuck in the 20th century. I remember statements from business representatives at the beginning of the pandemic stating that teleworking was not a viable option for Spaniards because they were 'lack of discipline.'" Despite this, he believes that teleworking will continue to grow: "Otherwise, it leads to labor disputes and a brain drain."