Working remotely, unequally: Evidence from a digitally divided labor market

Using nationally representative Quality of Life Survey microdata for 2020–2022, this paper examines who worked from home in Colombia and how WFH is associated with wages, job satisfaction, and weekly hours. A Digital Divide Index for Colombia's employed population has been developed. The results show that WFH is strongly associated with educational attainment, gender, age, firm size, and economic sector. Controlling for regions and economic sectors reveals a positive association between WFH, wages, and job satisfaction, whereas the relationship with weekly hours worked is negative. The heterogeneous analysis suggests that the relationship between WFH and the labor market outcomes varies significantly across different population groups; however, these results should be interpreted with caution. In general terms, the results show that remote work is unevenly distributed across population groups, and pre-existing digital divides, sectoral capabilities, and the structure of the labor market shape its benefits.