Young firms, young bosses: Why your chances of working from home (WFH) depend on your company's age

Dubai: If your company was founded after 2015, you are more likely to have a work-from-home (WFH) policy than one founded before 1990 and that's according to new data from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), an American private nonprofit research organisation. 

And it's not just the age of the company that matters,  it's the age of the person at the top.

When a CEO is under 30, employees work from home an average of 1.4 days per week. That compares with 1.1 days per week when the chief executive is aged 60 or over.

It may sound like a modest gap, but across an entire workforce, the cultural difference it represents is considerable.

The researchers tracked monthly surveys of 8,000 US workers aged between 20 and 64 throughout 2025. Their findings point to a consistent trend: employees at younger firms, and those led by younger CEOs, spend significantly more time working remotely.

When a CEO is under 30, employees work from home an average of 1.4 days per week. That compares with 1.1 days per week when the chief executive is aged 60 or over.

While the difference may appear modest, across large workforces it represents a notable shift in workplace culture.

The researchers identified a clear link between younger CEOs and companies that adopt a flexible-first, digital-first approach. Leaders who embrace remote work are also more likely to invest in new technologies and software-driven systems to manage their teams.

For Gen Z, the shift is deeply personal. A significant number were at university or had just graduated during the Covid-19 pandemic, entering an unstable economy and job market. Many launched businesses or built freelance careers armed with little more than a laptop, collaborating through platforms such as Teams, Slack and Zoom.

In many younger firms, these tools are not temporary solutions but standard operating practice.

The NBER is careful to note that a company's age and its CEO's generation aren't the only factors shaping an employer's likelihood of supporting remote work. The nature of the work itself matters enormously. 

Roles that can be performed entirely online, particularly in professional services, finance and technology are naturally more suited to home working arrangements.

Even so, age remains a strong predictor. Employees at younger firms work from home almost twice as often as those at long-established companies.

As the Boomer and Gen X workforce moves towards retirement, workplace expectations are evolving. For younger leaders and employees alike, remote and hybrid models are often seen not as perks, but as normal practice.

If the current trajectory continues, the five-day week in a cubicle could increasingly feel like a relic of a different era.