It increasingly looks like the future of work will be remote, and there’s data to prove it. According to a recent study released by Upwork, by 2025, 36.2 million Americans will be working from home. “Our research shows the long-lasting impact that remote work and COVID-19 are likely to have on how hiring managers think about their organizations,” said Adam Ozimek, Upwork’s chief economist. “As businesses adapt and learn from this remote work experiment, many are altering their long-term plans to accommodate this way of working.” The study found that nine months into the pandemic, under half—41.8 percent—of the American workforce is fully remote and that this trend will continue to grow even while offices reopen. The study also found that full-time work may be overtaken by freelancers in the next few years. “Now that employers are more comfortable with remote work, they are more adapt to tap freelancers to fill talent gaps,” Ozimek said. “Companies in many sectors are facing fast-moving challenges in this digital economy and they have to scale quickly in a way they may have not done before. That’s where hiring freelance talent comes in.”