The headlines haven't changed, but the tone has: many declare "remote is dead" while the other half clings to "WFH forever." Who's right? Fresh 2025 data offers clarity and a dose of reality.

According to the Indeed Hiring Lab (April 2025), remote tags appear on just 7.9% of U.S. job listings, down only a third of a point in the past year. Meanwhile, LinkedIn's Economic Graph (February 2025) shows that those remote roles, although scarce, pull in roughly 40% of all applications. That's 5X their share of postings. In other words, supply has cooled, but demand hasn't budged.

Zoom out further and the story sharpens: WFH Research and a February 2025 NBER paper report that 25% of all paid U.S. workdays still happen at home, a number that's held steady since 2023. Nick Bloom calls this the "hard floor" of remote work.

Experts agree: remote hasn't disappeared—it's matured. Bloom says the curve has "flattened, not fallen." 

How can that be with all the RTO headlines? The delta is explained by a widening compliance gap. CEOs issue mandates, but managers enforce them, and many are choosing to look the other way to retain talent. ZipRecruiter's Julia Pollak adds that remote wage premiums are still holding firm, a compelling sign that remote-first companies are committed to attracting top talent. 

In short, rigid models aren't winning; they're donating their top people to more flexible employers.

Fewer remote-only job ads don't signal a retreat. They reflect market weakness in remote-friendly sectors like tech. Hybrid is now a baseline strategy for reducing overhead and broadening access to talent. For companies that value high-caliber talent, remote is becoming a common-sense choice.

For remote workers, the takeaway is simple: remote roles are competitive—and worth it. Sharpen your async skills. Learn to document your outcomes. And filter for companies that tell you how they work, not just where they work.

The data is clear that remote is a competitive advantage. Big tech CEOs can tell journalists otherwise, but they can only swim against the current for so long.

The window to land a remote seat is narrower, but the view once inside is wider than ever.