Before the Internet, the traditional workday happened on-site or in an office space. Businesses relied on face-to-face interaction in customer service and functions. Physical presences were needed to answer phones, greet clients, keep a filing system, and produce work. But high-speed internet access and video conferencing changed the face of the workday. Office-based work was no longer necessary. The COVID-10 pandemic pushed workers home by necessity, and once the danger passed, employees began to demand the continuing flexibility of a work-at-home schedule. However, not every company or business is ready to adapt.

The team at Ooma performed a comprehensive analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2022 Annual Business Survey. The findings revealed interesting patterns in how the age of a company influences its decision to offer remote work. The youngest companies, those under 2 years old, most commonly offered work-from-home options at 43.9%. The older the company, the fewer remote work options there were. Here are the statistics: 41.8% for businesses aged 2–3 years, 40.8% for 4–5 years, 40.4% for 6–10 years, 38.2% for 11–15 years, and 35.6% for companies with 16 or more years in operation.

Click below to zoom.

When studying why companies don’t adopt remote work, the primary obstacle was clear and consistent across companies of all ages. 56.8% to 69.1% of companies said that job incompatibility was the biggest barrier to remote work. Obviously, not all tasks can be performed remotely. After job incompatibility, companies cited security concerns as the biggest barrier to remote work. However, the younger the company, the less likely they were to have computer security concerns. Younger companies are more likely to rely on cloud-based work software with built-in security features.

After these two reasons, management complexity was the most common barrier. The larger the company, the more difficult managing remote workers might become. The most interesting category might have been the data on companies reporting “no limiting factors” to remote work. 39.7% of the youngest companies said there were no barriers and 27.6% of the oldest companies believed there were no barriers to offering remote work.

The team also examined the number of remote workers and changes over time. It was clear that the COVID-19 pandemic skyrocketed the number of remote workers. Only 23% of remote work-capable employees actually worked from home in 2019. By 2023, 35% of these employees worked from home, down from the pandemic peak of 38% in 2021. Although there was a peak in remote work at the height of the pandemic, it’s clear that remote work is much more common now than it was before the pandemic.

The findings point to newer companies having more willingness and capability to offer remote work, though large legacy businesses have the biggest staff and most resources to hire remote workers. However, they have the biggest challenges in adapting old systems to new ways of working, a task young companies don’t need to worry about.

For years, the billionaire club was dominated by the likes of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg, all men. However, this new infographic from the team at Ooma shows us that the landscape is changing and more women are reaching billionaire status on their own terms. From tech start-ups to fashion empires, savvy investments, and entertainment icons, the world of women billionaires is diverse and fascinating. This chart reveals how these women achieved their fortunes and how long it took.

The team used Forbes’ Self-Made Score to determine which women qualified as self-made, relying more on their own business efforts than any inherited wealth. The team only included women who scored an 8, 9, or 10 on the Forbes score to ensure that these billionaire women listed are truly self-made.

Click below to zoom.

The timeline shows dramatic differences in how long the billionaire journeys took. The range is incredible, from four years to 68. At the fastest end of the spectrum, we find Rihanna and Daniela Amodei, who both achieved a billion-dollar business in just four years. Rihanna’s journey transformed her from a pop star to a beauty mogul with the launch of her super-popular brand, Fenty Beauty. Daniela Amodei’s path was forged with the cutting-edge AI technology spearheading her company, Anthropic. We see throughout the chart that technology can drive rapid wealth generation.

The data reveals many patterns across industries, with tech entrepreneurs generally having the fastest timeline to billionaire status. AI and cloud computing led to fast wealth for Michelle Zatlyn, the founder of Cloudflare, who reached billionaire status after 14 years. Lucy Guo became the youngest female billionaire at age 30 thanks to her Scale AI platform.

Traditional industries are a reliable way to build a fortune but can have longer timelines. Diane Hendricks built ABC Supply into a $21.9 billion construction materials business over 26 years. Sara Blakely, creator of the popular functional fashion brand Spanx, has, after 22 years, proven that a niche market like shapewear can have lucrative results.

Entertainment figures follow their own patterns, as we can see from Taylor Swift, who took 18 years to transform her music into a billion-dollar brand. Oprah Winfrey’s talk show became a $3 billion venture after 17 years of work.

The most inspiring story on the graphic may be the remarkable journey of Alice Schwartz. After founding Bio-Rad Laboratories in 1952, she worked persistently for 68 years to reach billionaire status at age 98. This defies the stereotype that women’s opportunities vanish with age.

The team’s comprehensive data tells the story of dozens of remarkable women who found dramatic success through creativity, consistency, ingenuity, and the ability to take calculated risks. The team’s chart proves that gender, age, industry, or timeline don’t have to limit entrepreneurs.

The U.S. economy and workforce landscape have seen many dramatic changes in the past three decades, not just in terms of trends, crises, and types of jobs workers pursue, but also in the way we work and structure careers. The team at Ooma created a new study displaying trending changes in self-employment. Their chart shows the percentage of the workforce that was self-employed each year. The numbers show that self-employment has always played a strong role in the American economy, with new Internet and digital industries pushing it to evolve. These changes present new opportunities and shake-ups to old work patterns.

Click below to zoom.

The Rise and Fall of Traditional Self-Employment

Ooma’s analysis is based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It shows that in 1994, self-employment represented 12.2% of the workforce. That’s 14.93 million Americans, a peak representing an economy where entrepreneurs, freelancers, contractors, and trades workers formed the backbone of the economy.

The next two decades saw a shift in self-employment, however. It declined to 9.8% by 2018, representing a shift to corporate employment in the era of social media and dot-com booms. The economy was recovering from a major recession that affected self-employed workers. Workers needed stability and benefits, and they turned away from gig work during the recession, with numbers plummeting to 59% in 2023.

The Impact of the Internet

Smartphone technology was developed in the late 1990s and perfected throughout the 2000s until it became a force that transformed the way we work. New apps like Uber, Instacart, and DoorDash ushered in a huge demand for gig work in the form of delivery drivers and people who could transform their own car into a taxi service. These platforms offered many work opportunities on top of a flexible schedule. People using these apps to get jobs could work whenever they wished.

Social media offered other exciting self-employment opportunities as we watched the rise of influencers and content creators who could market all kinds of digital goods and other services. A digital ecosystem made it more possible for personal brands to affordably market themselves to a wider audience.

The Pandemic as a Catalyst

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted huge changes in the way we work. Businesses closed down, layoffs surged, and many people looked for the quickest way to get flexible new employment. Self-employment options were the most accessible for many people. The self-employment workforce rose again to 4.2% in 2020. Many began to feel that starting their own business was more reliable than trusting a corporation. Marginalized people were especially drawn to self-employment, particularly women with families, and Black and Hispanic women. The flexible scheduling and greater power over work decisions was a more equitable fit for these women.

The team’s data proves that self-employment is so much more than just an alternative career choice. It can be an equalizer and drive American innovation. Self-employment can be a huge boost to local communities and continues to serve a vital role in our economy.