"Work from Home" is a song recorded by American girl group Fifth Harmony, featuring American singer Ty Dolla Sign. The song impacted contemporary hit radio four days after its initial release on March 1, 2016, and was released as the lead single from the group's second studio album, 7/27 (2016). "Work from Home" was written by Daniel Bedingfield, Jude Demorest, Eskeerdo, Brian Lee, Ty Dolla Sign, Ammo, and DallasK with production from the latter two. The song is primarily an R&B track that incorporates elements of trap music and tropical house beats with lyrics depicting "work" as a euphemism for sex. Many music publications included it in their lists of best songs of the year.
The song debuted at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, and reached number four in its thirteenth week, becoming their highest-charting single in the United States; it surpassed "Worth It", which peaked at number 12. "Work from Home" also became the first top-five single in the country by a girl group in ten years, following the September 2006 peak of "Buttons" by the Pussycat Dolls at number three. Among national airplay charts, the song topped both the Mainstream Top 40 and Rhythmic Songs. Outside the US, the song reached number one in the Netherlands and New Zealand as well as the top ten in twenty additional countries. As of December 2016, the single has sold 1.4 million digital downloads in the United States. The song has achieved multi-platinum certifications in several countries, including quintuple platinum in Canada and diamond in the US, France, and Mexico. Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the song received renewed attention as a result of the increasing adoption and prominence of remote working.
"Work from Home" was accompanied by a music video, directed by Director X and filmed in a construction site of a house. It was released on February 26, 2016, on the group's Vevo channel. The video received commentary from critics over the double entendres in the visuals, which are present in the lyrics as well. The girls are seen interacting with male construction workers and performing choreographed dance routines dressed in construction gear. "Work from Home" won the award for Best Collaboration at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards and the American Music Awards, winning the group their first award in this network. Its music video reached one billion views in October 2016 and became the most viewed music video of 2016. In August 2025, it reached three billion views.
Background and release
"Work from Home" was initially written by Joshua Coleman with Jude Demorest, Alexander Izquierdo, Dallas Koehlke and Brian Lee. Coleman and Koehlke also produced, performed all instruments and programming for the song. Fifth Harmony's vocals were produced & recorded by Victoria Monét and Andrew Bolooki at Windmark Recording and The Northership, both located in California. The song was mixed by Phil Tan at the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center with assistance from Daniela Rivera. The song came for the group after their A&R Joey Arbagey played it during a meeting to discuss their sophomore album's direction; each member immediately approved of the song. During an interview with Spin, Cabello explained that the group "fell in love" with the song after hearing it mostly for its "laid-back" and "chill" atmosphere that featured "a kind of urban pocket". She explained that the reason she and her groupmates loved the track was because it "branched out in different ways" from anything they had recorded. The song's title was announced on February 24, 2016. Originally titled "Work" and set to be released on January 26, 2016, the group had to re-title the song to "Work from Home" to avoid confusion with Rihanna's song of the same name, which was released a month prior.
While talking about how the collaboration with Ty Dolla Sign came together, Dinah Jane told Billboard that she was "happy he agreed" to be on the track as he was one of her "favorite artists". After hearing his song, "Paranoid", she told her groupmates, "Guys, we gotta get this dude on our song," as she saw him "as a perfect fit" for this track. Jane complimented the way he "rides" the song and "brings a different feel to it". Sharing similar sentiments, Cabello said that he "added [an] amazing flair" to the song. She also praised the way he played the "melody and his dissonant notes," saying that he "made his own hooky part of the bridge." Featured artist Ty Dolla Sign discussed his contribution in the song during a commentary to Billboard where he revealed that he was persuaded to join the song after his 11-year-old daughter continuously played their tracks. He recalls a time where he was on tour and had a lot of girls "in the hotel room". According to Ty, they usually "put on Future or something more turnt" but all of them wanted to "hear Fifth Harmony". He said that was the first time that ever happened. When discussing the album's single choice, Kordei told Entertainment Weekly that the song made sense after releasing "Worth It" because they had "similar styles, but still sounded "different". She elaborates by saying that the song is "chill" and "not too much" while referring to it as "sexy" but "cool" with "something electrifying about it". Nearly a month after the interview took place, the track premiered for the first time on radio on February 26, 2016, on the Elvis Duran and the Morning Show, and was released along with the pre-order of the album. It was then serviced to contemporary hit radio in the United States four days later on March 1, 2016.
Composition and lyrical interpretation "Work from Home" is a midtempo R&B song with elements of trap music. Katherine St. Asaph of Pitchfork noted elements of Rnbass in its production, while Meaghan Garvey from MTV found tropical house influences on its beats. Discussing the song musically, Chris Martins from Billboard classified it as "a pop-R&B confection that siphons off the a tropically tinted EDM pool." According to the sheet music published by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, "Work from Home" is written in the time signature of common time, with a moderate tempo of 105 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of A major as quintet's voices span the tonal nodes of G3 to F5. "Work from Home" follows a chord progression of Fm–D—A.
According with J.C. Pan from The Fader, "Work from Home" uses work as a euphemism for sexual seduction, "rolling out one job-related double entendre after another". In review of the album 7/27, Peter Meister from Sputnikmusic describing the song, wrote, "In the sparkling, sexy "Work from Home", R&B crooner Ty Dolla Sign harmonizes perfectly with the girls amongst brimming, elegant synths that explode and rattle with booming, gritty bass over the demanding of their lover to not go to work but instead, put the "work" at home with her. Its instrumentation, which interpolates the riff of Daniel Bedingfield's 2001 UK garage song "Gotta Get Thru This", is complete with electro claps, strong bassline and backed-synths.
The song has a typical verse-pre-chorus-chorus structure with a rap bridge done by Ty Dolla Sign before the third chorus and the outro. The song begins with bubbling beat and finger snaps. The first verse is sung by Cabello, the first pre-chorus is sung by Kordei. "I know you're always on the night shift/but I can't stand these nights alone", she sings. Following is the chorus sung by Jauregui, with the word "work" repeated seven times after each line. The second verse is sung by Hernandez who sings: "Let's put it into motion / Imma give you a promotion / I'll make it feel like a vacay / Turn the bed into an ocean". Hansen sings the second pre-chorus. Ty Dolla Sign sings after the second chorus, and on the third and final chorus Cabello, Hansen, and Jauregui close the song with an ad-libbed outro.
Critical reception "Work from Home" received mostly positive reviews from music critics. Matt Collar from AllMusic described "Work from Home" as one of the "most playful tracks" from 7/27, writing that said song along with "Not That Kinda Girl" "build upon Fifth Harmony's knack for mixing juicy R&B hooks with just enough hip-hop muscle to keep things from getting too polite." Maeve McDemortt from USA Today agreed, citing it as a highlight and praising its production. The Boston Globe's writer Maura Johnston called it an "Afternoon Delight", similarly, Brittany Spanks from Rolling Stone described it as "an "Afternoon Delight" for the smartphone generation that fluttered by on minimalist synths." Carolyn Menyes of Music Times gave it a positive review, noting the "chilled out vibe" and the "chorus that cools down the song's momentum rather than pumping it up".
Isabella Biedenhan of Entertainment Weekly wrote that "...slinking beats and playfully sexy lyrics about convincing your partner to skip the boardroom for the bedroom" were notable in the song. The sexual nature and double entendres present in its lyrics, was another point discussed by critics. Spencer Kornhaber from The Atlantic journal noted that "Work from Home" "is typical in portraying freaky bedroom fun as glorious mostly in the bounds of a relationship." Katherine St. Asaph, Pitchfork, expressed an unsatisfied critique about its recording writing that "Fifth Harmony trades in the kind of pop-cultural press-quote feminism where the group can say they are out squash gender roles and “gender-institutionalized thinking” while recording a fantasy of a stay-at-home sexter reassuring the household breadwinner that he's the boss at home."
Several critics noted the song's style is comparable with the musical style of the hip hop producer DJ Mustard. In a review published by the staff of Idolator, Robbie Daw called the track worthy based on previous singles with the titular name a called it the group's "most solid single to date." In a mixed-positive review, Carl Williott initially called the track a "DJ Mustard ripoff" but complimented the group for managing to make the song "their own" with their "subtle harmonizations adding some texture", he adds. Mike Wass shared similar sentiments and called it a "sleek and sexy bop with on-trend production" and an "insidiously catchy chorus" while praising the group's musical evolution. Several publications thought it was a strong contender for song of the summer. However, other critics were not so positive. Christopher Bohlsen of Renowned for Sound gave a negative review, saying that while vocal melodies in the verses were "satisfying", the chorus just "doesn’t sound interesting enough", calling it an "utterly standard pop song". Bohlsen gave the song a two-and-a-half out of five rating.
Critics' lists
Several sites, such as Billboard, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly and Time, ranked "Work from Home" in the top ten of their respected best pop songs of the year lists. Slant and NPR ranked the song at number eleven on its list of best singles of the year while Stereogum ranked the song at number fifteen on its year-end list with the editor praising Ty Dolla Sign's influence on the song. Aggregate news site, Inquisitr ranked the song at number two in its top 10 singles list.
In the annual Village Voices Pazz & Jop mass critics poll of the year's best in music in 2016, "Work from Home" was tied at number 36, with six other songs. The Arizona Republic and The Fader ranked the song at 28 and 23 in their year-end lists, respectively. Fact ranked it at 34 and Spin ranked it at 94. In its best pop singles list, Digital Spy placed the song at number seven. Elle placed the song in its unranked year-end list.
In 2017, Billboard ranked "Work from Home" at number 14 on its list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time: Critics' Picks. In 2019 Rolling Stone ranked the song as the 86th best song of the 2010s decade.
Chart performance North America