New Yorkers Working From Home Saving A Collective $1.4B Every Month

NEW YORK — New research finds that ditching the commute to work from home amounts to something of a substantial pay raise for New Yorkers who have traded the cubicle for a home office.

PRPioneer.com, a public relations advice website, surveyed 3,206 work-from-home employees to find out how much money they've been saving each month since shifting to work-from-home mode. The website found that New York employees collectively saved over $1.4 billion per month. This amounts to about $610.01 per New Yorker monthly, compared to a national average of $281.61 monthly.

Before the pandemic-inspired transition to working from home, working at the office might have had certain perks, like office supplies and office furniture. However, we were also spending a good amount of money on avoidable expenses such as grabbing a meal from local restaurants, after work drinks and money spent on commuting, including fuel costs. Now that more people than ever before are working from home, or working hybrid models, many have found that they are able to save extra cash each month, according to the study's authors.

A full five percent of workers in the study said that they have been able to purchase items they normally wouldn't have been able to afford if they had continued working in the office.

Almost two-thirds of work-from-home employees said that they preferred their new way of working as compared to working in an office. However, for those who lacked the space and proper office set-up, working from home meant having to purchase computers, printers, office supplies and office furniture.

"Many employees, who were new to working from home at the start of the pandemic, underestimated how many supplies and how much office equipment they would need in their new home workspace," PR Pioneer spokesperson James Ellis explained. "It is, however, clear that a significant number of people prefer the idea of working from home, as compared to going into a physical office. Pocketing a solid amount in cash savings each month also grants employees the ability to buy things they may not have been able to afford prior to working from home."

Overall, employees have spent over $180 on their home office since they began working from home. According to PRPioneer, it seems like many feel they shouldn’t be responsible for these costs. In fact, a majority of workers think their employers should reimburse them for the money they’ve had to spend on their home office set-up.

Despite the benefits and savings of working from home, more than 25 percent of those surveyed also admitted that slow home internet speeds have affected their day-to-day job performance.

Survey results also showed that 39 percent of employees think that small businesses located near offices (like local coffee shops, restaurants and bars), who have lost business due to the shift in the number of people now working from home, should be financially compensated.

The savings of working from the comfort of home on a state-by-state basis be found here: