A closer look at remote work in America

More than three years after the pandemic forced a large portion of employees to work from home, the policy is still popular in many sectors of the economy. But is it the best working setup for everyone involved?

✌️ Two different perspectives: Overall, an estimated 98% of US workers say they want to work remotely at least some of the time, citing benefits like a lack of commute, fewer distractions, and a healthier work-life balance.

But many managers and executives aren’t as keen on the idea. In a Federal Reserve Bank of New York survey of business leaders released this month, more than 60% said they feel remote work has worsened their companies’ workplace culture, team cohesion, and mentorship.

🏢 What does the data say?... Short answer: it’s complicated. A 2022 peer-reviewed study examining 60,000+ Microsoft employees before and after the pandemic found remote work led to an overall boost in productivity, though it also decreased employees’ collaboration and creativity.

• But a working paper published last month by Stanford’s Institute for Economic Policy and Research found that fully remote work is associated with 10% to 20% lower productivity than fully in-person work.
• Separately, a recent UChicago study found remote workers in the US save an average of 54 minutes in daily commuting time – and spend about 23 minutes of that extra time engaging in daily work.

📸 Big picture: Several major US companies have urged their workers to return to the office full- or part-time starting this fall, including Apple, Amazon, Blackrock, Disney, Goldman Sachs, IBM, Meta, and Zoom.

• Nationally, office occupancy across 10 of the largest US cities is currently less than half of pre-Covid levels, a figure that’s roughly unchanged over the past year.

📊 Flash poll: In your opinion, what is the ideal working setup?

Fully in-person

Hybrid

Fully remote