Remote Worker Equipment Stipend Statistics 2026

Remote worker equipment stipend statistics show that employer support is common, but far from universal. The clearest current benchmark comes from SHRM: 53% of employers offer a subsidy or reimbursement for remote-work equipment, and the average amount they will provide is $901. SHRM published those figures in its 2026 Employee Benefits research. (SHRM)

That average should not be treated as a standard stipend. Some employers buy and own the equipment. Others reimburse approved purchases, issue a fixed allowance, or combine a company laptop with a smaller furniture budget. Survey populations also differ. Employer surveys describe policy, while worker surveys describe what people actually receive.

Equipment stipend statistics at a glance

The SHRM trend moved from 62% in 2022 to 53% in 2026, a decrease of nine percentage points. The reported average amount changed from $891 to $901 over the same period. The surveys are separate annual samples, so the comparison describes reported employer policy, not the same organizations followed over time. (SHRM 2022, SHRM 2026)

What employers pay for

Employer-paid support usually starts with the tools needed to perform the job. In SHRM's 2022 employer survey, 95% of organizations with an equipment subsidy or reimbursement covered technology such as monitors, keyboards, or headsets. In the same group, 68% covered general office supplies. The survey included 3,129 HR professionals across organization sizes and sectors. (SHRM)

Buffer's worker data shows a similar order of priority. Among 3,000 remote workers, 64% said their employer paid for hardware. Coverage dropped to 40% for desks and chairs, 28% for home internet, and 22% for coworking memberships. The respondents included employees, independent consultants, business owners, and people who worked remotely full time, part time, or occasionally. (Buffer)

The gaps also show unmet demand. In Buffer's survey, 25% said hardware was not covered but wished it were. The corresponding figures were 38% for office equipment, 44% for home internet, and 38% for coworking membership. These are worker preferences, not estimates of legal liability or proof of a productivity effect. (Buffer)

WTW found that employers used several payment methods. Its results page reported that 47% bought required items, 31% provided an allowance, and 7% made a one-time payment. Among organizations that compensated work-from-home costs, 47% covered internet and 25% covered utilities. WTW did not publish the underlying respondent count on that page, so these figures are useful as policy patterns rather than precise market rates. (WTW)

How large should an equipment stipend be?

SHRM's $901 average is the strongest current public benchmark for the total at-home equipment amount an employer will provide. It is close to SHRM's $891 average in 2022, although the share of employers offering support declined over that period. (SHRM 2026, SHRM 2022)

A company can use that benchmark in three different ways:

• Buy standard equipment and keep ownership of it.
• Reimburse documented purchases up to a role-based limit.
• Give a fixed allowance and state how tax and excess amounts are handled.

The right amount depends on what the company already supplies. A budget for a chair and monitor is not comparable with an allowance that must also cover the computer. A recurring internet payment is also different from a one-time setup budget. Employers should report those categories separately when they compare costs.

For tax administration, the IRS says an accountable plan must connect the expense to the employer's business, require substantiation within a reasonable period, and require the employee to return excess reimbursement. Amounts that do not meet the rules are generally treated as payments under a nonaccountable plan. (IRS Publication 463)

Home-office costs put the stipend in context

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the average U.S. consumer unit spent $78,535 in 2024. Housing accounted for $26,266, including $4,736 for utilities, fuels, and public services. Utility spending increased 2.4% from 2023. These are household averages, not the incremental cost of remote work, so they cannot be used to calculate an employee reimbursement by themselves. (BLS)

The distinction matters. Rent, electricity, and internet serve both personal and work uses in many homes. Equipment such as a headset or security key may be used only for work. A sound policy states which costs qualify, how shared expenses are allocated, and whether the company owns an item after purchase.

Teams can also reduce avoidable purchases by standardizing the software and equipment list. Our guide to productivity tools for remote work covers the tool side of that decision. Companies using a virtual assistant service should state whether the service provider or the client supplies required devices and paid accounts.

Reimbursement law is not one national rule

Federal wage law provides a minimum floor. The U.S. Department of Labor says an employer cannot shift tool and equipment costs to a worker when those costs reduce wages below the required minimum wage or cut into overtime pay. The rule does not create a general federal right to a $901 stipend or full home-office reimbursement for every salaried remote employee. (U.S. Department of Labor)

State law can be broader. California's Labor Commissioner explains that Labor Code section 2802 entitles an employee to reimbursement for expenses or losses that result directly from performing work duties. That can apply even when the employee remains above the federal minimum wage. (California Department of Industrial Relations)

Employers with staff in several states should review the employee's work location, not only the employer's headquarters. They should also separate required business costs from optional benefits. This section is general information and is not legal advice.

Retention and productivity: what the evidence can support

Equipment removes practical barriers, but the public research does not establish that a stipend of a particular size causes higher retention or productivity. Most stipend surveys report prevalence, amounts, or employee preferences. They do not randomly assign equipment budgets and measure business outcomes.

The stronger causal evidence applies to the broader work arrangement. A study published in Nature on June 12, 2024 reported a six-month randomized trial with 1,612 graduate employees at Trip.com. Employees assigned to work from home two days per week had quit rates of 4.8%, compared with 7.2% for the office group. That is a one-third relative decrease. The researchers found no effect on performance grades, promotions, or lines of code. (Nature)

That result supports hybrid work as a retention option without a measured performance loss in this population. It does not isolate equipment stipends. The trial involved engineering, marketing, accounting, and finance employees at one Chinese technology company, so employers should not apply its exact quit rates to every workforce. (Nature)

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reviewed evidence on remote work and productivity in October 2024. It reported that several firm-level experiments found small positive effects on selected individual measures, while an analysis across 43 private-sector industries found little relationship between remote-work capacity and aggregate productivity growth. The measures and research levels differ, so the findings should not be averaged into one productivity percentage. (BLS)

For broader adoption and workforce context, see our remote work statistics for 2026.

A practical measurement plan

Employers can evaluate a stipend without claiming that correlation proves causation. Track these measures before and after a policy change:

• The share of eligible workers who use the benefit.
• Average approved spend by equipment category and role.
• Days from request to delivery or reimbursement.
• Help-desk requests tied to missing or unsuitable equipment.
• Voluntary exits among eligible workers, with remote status and tenure shown separately.
• Output or quality measures that already apply to the role.

Compare similar groups and record other policy changes. A return-to-office change, new manager, pay adjustment, or software migration can affect retention and output at the same time. The stipend data is useful, but it rarely tells the whole story.

Sources

• SHRM, 2026 Employee Benefits: Flexible Work, accessed September 18, 2026
• SHRM, 2022 Employee Benefits Survey summary, April 25, 2022
• Buffer, State of Remote Work 2023, data collected October 10 to November 28, 2022
• WTW, 10 trends in the tech, media and gaming talent market, July 20, 2023
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditures in 2024, December 2025
• U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet 24: Homeworkers Under the FLSA, revised July 2008
• California Department of Industrial Relations, Deductions From Wages, accessed September 18, 2026
• Bloom, Han, and Liang, Hybrid working from home improves retention without damaging performance, June 12, 2024
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, The rise in remote work since the pandemic and its impact on productivity, October 2024
• IRS Publication 463, 2025 edition