How has the importance of factors influencing telework adoption changed over time? Observing pre- to late-pandemic trends using multi-year data from two US regions

• Factors influencing telework adoption trends over time in two US regions. • Identifies four distinct temporal patterns of influence. • Explores influence of work-family balance, job characteristics, and others. • Reveals significant impact of telework-related attitudes on adoption. • Explores telework feasibility impacts on adoption. Teleworking, significantly accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has altered traditional work arrangements and commuting habits. To understand factors influencing telework behavior and their changes over time, we examine telework adoption trends using three waves of cross-sectional survey data collected in the springs of 2021–2023 (and including retrospective pre-COVID data) in the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington (DFA) and Washington (DC)–Arlington–Alexandria (WAA) regions. We categorize employees into non-teleworkers (NTWers), non-usual teleworkers (NUTWers), and usual teleworkers (UTWers) based on their frequency of full days working from home. Region- and year-specific multinomial logit (MNL) models are constructed to identify factors influencing telework patterns across different pandemic phases. Four groups of influential factors are revealed: those consistent in significance throughout (e.g., education and income), those fading across years (e.g., car-related attitudes), those strengthening over time (e.g., telework attitudes), and those with differential impacts between NUTW and UTW (e.g., household composition). For instance, in WAA, workers with young children were more likely than others to be NUTWers pre- and early-pandemic, but this factor faded in significance in later years. Conversely, the impact of having school-aged children on NUTWing strengthened in the late-pandemic period. Additionally, pro-car ownership attitudes decreased the propensity to UTW throughout the years, though this influence faded late in the pandemic. These findings highlight the dynamic interplay between work-family balance, job characteristics, and attitudes related to telework adoption. The results provide valuable insights for policymakers and employers aiming to optimize flexible work arrangements, refine telework policies, and address future workforce needs.