Special Questions

Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey

Data were collected September 17–25, and 79 Texas manufacturers responded to the survey.

NOTES: 74 responses. Shown are averages, calculated as trimmed means with the lowest and highest 5 percent of responses omitted.

NOTES: 76 responses. "Domestic policy uncertainty" was added in December 2023.

NOTES: 77 responses. Shown are averages, calculated as the mean of received responses. Prior to April 2022, respondents were not asked to break out fully remote versus hybrid, and responses could be lower as a result if respondents had in mind only workers working mostly remotely. Responses for February 2020 are from an August 2020 question asking, "What share of your employees were working remotely in February (pre-COVID-19)?"

NOTE: 76 responses.

NOTES: 10 responses. This question was only posed to firms who noted an increase in remote work.

NOTES: 9 responses. This question was only posed to firms who noted a decrease in remote work.

NOTE: 56 responses.

Survey respondents were given the opportunity to also provide comments, which can be found in the Comments tab above.

Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey

Data were collected September 17–25, and 247 Texas business executives responded to the survey.

NOTES: 216 responses. Shown are averages, calculated as trimmed means with the lowest and highest 5 percent of responses omitted.

NOTES: 235 responses. "Domestic policy uncertainty" was added in December 2023.

NOTES: 220 responses. Shown are averages, calculated as the mean of received responses. Prior to April 2022, respondents were not asked to break out fully remote versus hybrid, and responses could be lower as a result if respondents had in mind only workers working mostly remotely. Responses for February 2020 are from an August 2020 question asking, "What share of your employees were working remotely in February (pre-COVID-19)?"

NOTE: 235 responses.

NOTES: 23 responses. This question was only posed to firms who noted an increase in remote work.

NOTES: 31 responses. This question was only posed to firms who noted a decrease in remote work.

NOTE: 187 responses.

Survey respondents were given the opportunity to also provide comments, which can be found in the Comments tab above.

Texas Retail Outlook Survey

Data were collected September 17–25, and 53 Texas retailers responded to the survey.

NOTES: 48 responses. Shown are averages, calculated as trimmed means with the lowest and highest 5 percent of responses omitted.

NOTES: 52 responses. "Domestic policy uncertainty" was added in December 2023.

NOTES: 50 responses. Shown are averages, calculated as the mean of received responses. Prior to April 2022, respondents were not asked to break out fully remote versus hybrid, and responses could be lower as a result if respondents had in mind only workers working mostly remotely. Responses for February 2020 are from an August 2020 question asking, "What share of your employees were working remotely in February (pre-COVID-19)?"

NOTE: 52 responses.

NOTES: 3 responses. This question was only posed to firms who noted an increase in remote work.

NOTES: 4 responses. This question was only posed to firms who noted a decrease in remote work.

NOTE: 34 responses.

Survey respondents were given the opportunity to also provide comments, which can be found in the Comments tab above.

Special Questions Comments

These comments have been edited for publication.

• We only use remote work for high-skill individual contributors. We have no intention to expand this and would gradually reduce it as existing remote employees turn over.

• We are seeing modest growth in input costs, mostly associated with commodities such as beef and pork. Our concern is that these will be a headwind for us as we will not be able to pass along future price increases due to the economic conditions. As a result, we are focusing on cost-savings ideas to offset the rising commodity costs. We have had good success with offering hybrid work to our administrative staff and will continue to offer this option for the foreseeable future.
• Being a food manufacturer, few jobs can be performed remotely—mostly management jobs. We just gave wage increases to hourly employees. The range was from 3 percent to 12 percent, with an overall average of 8 percent. We set the minimum wage at $14 per hour. It is challenging to find good, motivated people who want a stable job.

• No one works remotely. Not even those who are paid to do so!

• Next year doesn't look too rosy. Oil demand is dropping, driven by China’s slowing economy. The supply glut is high, driven by U.S. drilling operations. Then there is OPEC trying to keep prices up and not increase drilling.

• Prices are increasing significantly due to a new product line being added.

• Most of our remote employees are regional sales people. For others, we are about ready to require them to be on-site at least four days per week. It takes a unique person to work remotely and be as productive as someone in the office exclusively.

• We resisted requests to work remotely and that has paid off. Most of our workforce has to be on-site, so it's only fair that everyone else come to the office as well. In the end, they appreciate the camaraderie.

• Our company is in manufacturing. All staff, regardless of accounting, HR, production, sales, etc., works at the plant. We do not offer remote work.

• We are a bank, and in 12 months our net interest spread was down 25 percent.

• Remote work is not desired by our firm, but it has been necessary because of a lack of available labor pool within the city. We do not allow remote work if the employee lives in the city where the office is located. Remote work is only available for experienced, high performing employees.
• All things considered, downward inflation has a direct impact on employee mood and morale.
• We only allow our employees to work hybrid. We feel the culture of the company suffers when employees work remote.
• We are fully remote since March 2020
• In-office requirements are based on role. For example, our software engineers are 100 percent remote regardless of geography.
• Most of our people who work remotely are back-office employees. Employees who have direct access to our clients are mostly in the office.

• Our input and sales prices do not reflect revenue growth. We are insurance brokers, so those are property insurance rate increases as well as cyber liability rates.

• None of our employees works remotely.

• Remote work has been primarily related to the quality of talent and commitment.
• We have not given wage increases. We can't afford to increase compensation.

• The pressure on management to run a competitive company, manage employees who are not in the office, manage clients who are also working remotely, and manage inflating costs while selling prices are stagnant is extremely challenging.

• We have no remote workers or hybrid.

• Our hybrid workforce was working 15 percent in the office. Then we requested they work 40–50 percent in the office, and they are voluntarily complying. Our plan is to move the amount of in-office work by the hybrid employees to 60 percent in 2025.

• We worry about domestic policy uncertainty, elections. input costs inflation and geopolitical uncertainty.