Here's How Much Money U.S. Employees Will Sacrifice to Avoid Returning to the Office, According to a New Study

Nearly four years after the pandemic upended the way we show up for work, many U.S. employees still don't want to return to traditional in-office models.

Prospective employees are willing to take an 8% annual pay cut for a job that's partially or fully remote, Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom told USA Today.

Related: In-Office Workers Spend (A Lot) More Money Than Remote Employees During the Workday. Here's How Much.

That comes to roughly $4,600 a year, as the median U.S. salary for full-time employees is $57,200, per the outlet.

But employees who work from home are likely to see even more significant savings.

The average employee can save up to $6,000 if they're working from home 50% of the time in a hybrid position — and up to $12,000 if they're fully remote, according to a study from remote-work site FlexJobs.

Some of the biggest savings come in the form of commuting costs, clothing and dining out, per the research.

Related: Meet the Typical Remote Worker, Who Makes Good Money, Runs Errands During the Day, and Will Take a Pay Cut to Avoid RTO

On average, a commuter in the U.S. spends $8,466 going to and from their work site in a year, or about 19% of their annual income, according to agent-matching service Clever Real Estate.

So perhaps it's not surprising that 90% of Americans don't want to come into the office five days a week, per a Gallup poll — and say that the No. 1 perk that would change their mind (38%) is a company willing to cover 100% of their commuting costs, according to a report from video conferencing company Owl Labs.