If the phrase “work from home” felt almost quaint before 2020, it’s hard to imagine anyone thinking that now. During the first wave of lockdowns, telework went from experiment to necessity, often in the span of a week. And while the headlines were full of stories about Zoom meetings and digital nomads, the real shift—the movement in the bones of the economy—was a little harder to spot. This is where ISIC codes, often overlooked, offered a quiet window into the rapid changes happening on the ground.
Start with ISIC 6201: Computer programming, consultancy and related activities. In almost every country, this is one of the sectors best positioned for remote work. As lockdowns hit, many companies pivoted to telework almost overnight, and new businesses—freelance programmers, IT support, cloud consultancies—started springing up to meet the surge in demand. For analysts and policymakers trying to gauge the scale of the shift, new firm registrations under ISIC 6201 became a leading indicator. A spike in these numbers through 2020 was often a signal that not just employment, but new business formation itself, was moving online.
But detecting growth in telework isn’t just about counting new businesses. To really estimate the size of the remote workforce, analysts turned to year-end business registry data. By looking at all active firms coded under ISIC 6201, and—where available—surveying their workforce arrangements, it became possible to estimate what share of employees were working remotely, either full-time or in hybrid setups. Some countries supplemented this with labor force surveys, asking workers directly about their work-from-home status; others inferred it from drops in office occupancy or changes in urban mobility patterns.
Patterns quickly emerged. In regions with strong digital infrastructure, the share of remote workers in ISIC 6201 rose dramatically, sometimes doubling or tripling in a matter of months. In other areas, the expansion was slower, limited by patchy broadband or a lack of digital skills. Yet even in places where formal telework was rare before the pandemic, the crisis acted as a catalyst—pushing businesses, government agencies, and workers to experiment with new ways of working.
It wasn’t all smooth. Some new registrations under ISIC 6201 were driven by necessity rather than opportunity—laid-off workers starting freelance consultancies to make ends meet. And as restrictions eased, not all telework arrangements proved durable; some firms called employees back, others stuck with hybrid models, and a few abandoned physical offices altogether. The numbers, while striking, needed to be read with context and caution.
For policymakers, the value of this ISIC-based tracking went beyond just measuring change—it shaped the response. Understanding which sectors and regions were seeing the biggest telework expansion helped target support: broadband upgrades, digital skills programs, even adjustments to urban transport and zoning. It also raised new questions about equity, access, and the future shape of the workforce.
Of course, business registries are only a partial window. Not every remote worker is formally registered, and many digital services straddle sector codes or operate informally. But the discipline of tracking telework expansion through ISIC 6201—layered with careful interpretation and local knowledge—turned a tidal wave of anecdote into something a bit more manageable, something that could guide both immediate action and long-term planning.
In the end, telework’s expansion in 2020 will be remembered not just as a temporary blip, but as a moment when the boundaries of where—and how—people work shifted for good. ISIC codes didn’t capture every detail, but they gave us a way to see the change as it happened, one business registration, one home office, one new routine at a time.