# Remote Work Drives Record Productivity Gains in Q1

Category: Productivity
Published: 2026-07-17
Description: New data shows remote work, not AI alone, helped drive record U.S. labor productivity growth in Q1 and is becoming a competitive advantage.
Original URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/14/business/worker-productivity-artificial-intelligence-economy.html
Canonical URL: https://ro.am/rwn/remote-work-drives-record-productivity-gains-in-q1

[Interactive chart: U.S. labor productivity · index, 2019 = 100. Summary: Indexed quarterly measures show output growing faster than hours worked, with labor productivity reaching a new high. Each series begins at 100. X-axis: Quarter. Y-axis: Index (2019 Q1 = 100). Productivity: 2019 Q1 100, 2019 Q2 100.4, 2019 Q3 100.6, 2019 Q4 101.1, 2020 Q1 101.9, 2020 Q2 104.2, 2020 Q3 105.6, 2020 Q4 106.4, 2021 Q1 108.3, 2021 Q2 110.6, 2021 Q3 111.7, 2021 Q4 112, 2022 Q1 111.4, 2022 Q2 111.1, 2022 Q3 111.5, 2022 Q4 110.8, 2023 Q1 110.5, 2023 Q2 111.4, 2023 Q3 112.4, 2023 Q4 113.7, 2024 Q1 114.4, 2024 Q2 114.1, 2024 Q3 115.4, 2024 Q4 116.4, 2025 Q1 116.9, 2025 Q2 117.7, 2025 Q3 118.5, 2025 Q4 119.4, 2026 Q1 120.3; Hours worked: 2019 Q1 100, 2019 Q2 100.3, 2019 Q3 100.5, 2019 Q4 100.7, 2020 Q1 99.4, 2020 Q2 90.6, 2020 Q3 95.6, 2020 Q4 97.4, 2021 Q1 98.4, 2021 Q2 99.7, 2021 Q3 100.8, 2021 Q4 101.6, 2022 Q1 102.6, 2022 Q2 103.5, 2022 Q3 104.2, 2022 Q4 104.8, 2023 Q1 105.2, 2023 Q2 105.5, 2023 Q3 105.7, 2023 Q4 105.8, 2024 Q1 105.9, 2024 Q2 106, 2024 Q3 106, 2024 Q4 106.1, 2025 Q1 106, 2025 Q2 106.1, 2025 Q3 106.2, 2025 Q4 106.1, 2026 Q1 106.2; Output: 2019 Q1 100, 2019 Q2 100.7, 2019 Q3 101.1, 2019 Q4 101.8, 2020 Q1 101.3, 2020 Q2 94.4, 2020 Q3 101, 2020 Q4 103.6, 2021 Q1 106.6, 2021 Q2 110.3, 2021 Q3 112.6, 2021 Q4 113.8, 2022 Q1 114.3, 2022 Q2 115, 2022 Q3 116.2, 2022 Q4 116.1, 2023 Q1 116.2, 2023 Q2 117.5, 2023 Q3 118.8, 2023 Q4 120.3, 2024 Q1 121.1, 2024 Q2 120.9, 2024 Q3 122.3, 2024 Q4 123.5, 2025 Q1 123.9, 2025 Q2 124.9, 2025 Q3 125.8, 2025 Q4 126.7, 2026 Q1 127.8. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — https://www.bls.gov/productivity/]

According to reporting from [The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/14/business/worker-productivity-artificial-intelligence-economy.html), remote work—not AI alone—was a major driver of record U.S. labor productivity growth in the first quarter.

“Labor productivity,” the output produced by human labor, grew at its fastest rate in more than 20 years.

## KKR sees remote work gains

Henry McVey, a senior executive at KKR, said he believes productivity gains began after the pandemic with the digitization of work, remote work, and machine learning—and that companies are only beginning to see the impact of AI.

## RWN’s take

Remote work sits at the intersection of three trends. The first is global access to talent. Platforms such as Deel and Howdy make it easier to find specialized talent anywhere or build an engineering team on demand.

## Digital exhaust trains AI agents

The second is artificial intelligence and machine learning, which can use the digital record created by meetings, chats, presence, and other work. AI agents can increasingly learn from remote companies with a strong digital footprint.

## Gen Z founders

The third is a cultural shift among Gen Z founders. Many grew up online and are forming new businesses at record rates using the collaborative style they already know. Deel founder Alex Bouaziz has written that gaming taught a generation how to collaborate remotely long before today’s remote-work tools existed.

Platforms like [Roam](https://ro.am) bring presence, visibility, and drop-in collaboration to remote companies.