The working-from-home illusion fades
1 year, 5 months ago

The working-from-home illusion fades

Live Mint  

A gradual reverse migration is under way, from Zoom to the conference room. Wall Street firms have been among the most forceful in summoning workers to their offices, but in recent months even many tech titans—Apple, Google, Meta and more—have demanded staff show up to the office at least three days a week. Michael Gibbs of the University of Chicago and Friederike Mengel and Christoph Siemroth, both of the University of Essex, found a productivity shortfall, relative to prior in-office performance, of as much as 19% for the remote employees of a large Asian it firm. In a study of software engineers published in April, Drs Emanuel and Harrington, along with Amanda Pallais, also of Harvard, found that feedback exchanged between colleagues dropped sharply after the move to remote work. But two big wrinkles are often neglected: first, more than two-thirds of the improved performance came from employees working longer hours, not more efficiently; second, the Chinese firm eventually halted remote work because off-site employees struggled to get promoted.

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History of this topic

Remote Work Uncovered: Jooble’s Perspective
1 month, 1 week ago

Remote Work Uncovered: Jooble’s Perspective

NL Times  

Although remote work as a concept existed for decades, the COVID-19 pandemic skyrocketed the opportunities in this regard. Remote Work Uncovered: Jooble’s Perspective As a job aggregator, Jooble hosts millions of job openings all over the world. There are several reasons for that: The lockdown showed that employees tend to be more productive and more satisfied with their jobs in …

Remote staff sleep longer and work less, says ONS
1 month, 4 weeks ago

Remote staff sleep longer and work less, says ONS

The Telegraph  

People who work from home sleep more and work less than those going into the office, official analysis has revealed. Remote workers get an extra 24 minutes of rest and 15 minutes of exercise every day, but work for 10 minutes less on average compared to those who travel to their workplaces, according to the Office for National Statistics. Managers …

Global Work From Home Day 2024: Date, Theme, History, and Significance
8 months, 4 weeks ago

Global Work From Home Day 2024: Date, Theme, History, and Significance

The Quint  

Remote work existed long before it was introduced globally during Covid-19 pandemic. Global Work From Home Day is a day to recognize and celebrate the benefits of working from home, and to encourage more people to adopt this work lifestyle. The Industrial Revolution led to the introduction of factories and office buildings, which disrupted the traditional routine of traders, who …

Opinion: Does working from home make you lonely? Here’s one fix that won’t have you returning to the office
9 months, 2 weeks ago

Opinion: Does working from home make you lonely? Here’s one fix that won’t have you returning to the office

LA Times  

Opening one’s door to guests, whether for extra income or simply to invite interesting experiences with strangers and friends, is one way to avoid loneliness. I dreaded guests’ departures and would long for another person who lived what I thought of as a daring life to interrupt my seemingly normal one. One prescription for this modern epidemic is opening one’s …

What working from home is really doing to your health
10 months, 4 weeks ago

What working from home is really doing to your health

The Independent  

Few knew pre-pandemic what the consequences of remote working would be for our minds and bodies. “For some people, working at home was a good thing,” says Neil Greenberg, professor of defence mental health and occupational and forensic psychiatry at King’s College London. That’s dangerously sedentary behaviour.” It’s not hard to see where this is going – weight gain was …

Remote work doesn’t seem to affect productivity, US study finds
11 months, 3 weeks ago

Remote work doesn’t seem to affect productivity, US study finds

Hindustan Times  

US industries that are more adaptable to remote work haven’t seen a bigger boost — or decline — in productivity growth since 2020 compared to industries with more in-person work, according to new research from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. While the shift toward remote-work arrangements has reshaped society in ways that will continue to evolve, there is …

Remote workers actually aren’t more productive. Will bosses finally call them back in this year?
1 year ago

Remote workers actually aren’t more productive. Will bosses finally call them back in this year?

LA Times  

These days, it looks like the bloom is coming off the rose for remote work: Many employers are talking tougher. Deborah Lovich, who leads Boston Consulting Group’s work on “people strategy,” sees more employers adopting hybrid work as they see the financial and nonfinancial benefits. “Firms shouldn’t care about productivity, they should care about profitability,” said Bloom, who is part …

New incentives could boost satisfaction with in-person work, but few employers are making changes
1 year, 1 month ago

New incentives could boost satisfaction with in-person work, but few employers are making changes

Associated Press  

NEW YORK — Justin Ryan Horton has two jobs. About 3 in 4 human resources representatives say that retaining employees who don’t want to work in the office is a problem — including 19% who call it a “major problem.” Another 54% of HR representatives call it a minor problem. There are some initiatives that could incentivize more employees to …

5 Ways to Work Remotely (and Effectively) for the Long Haul
1 year, 3 months ago

5 Ways to Work Remotely (and Effectively) for the Long Haul

Wired  

Covid-19 made remote work a reality for a lot of people, but for me, it was business as usual. Have a Designated Work Space That Is Not Where You Sleep There’s an old saying that beds should be used for just two things. I don’t necessarily recommend that—it didn’t do great things for my back—but it maintained the needed distance …

Remote work gave them a reprieve from racism. They don’t want to go back
1 year, 5 months ago

Remote work gave them a reprieve from racism. They don’t want to go back

LA Times  

As LeRon Barton weighed his options, he realized what he had to do. “And just the quality of life has improved drastically.” It’s a sentiment expressed by many Black workers and other people of color who found that remote work lessened the racism they faced on the job. With remote work, the data confirm whether workers are getting their jobs …

Employers’ push to end remote work and return to office is stalling
1 year, 5 months ago

Employers’ push to end remote work and return to office is stalling

LA Times  

Coming out of the pandemic, Bart Valdez has had the mind-set of many traditional bosses. Today a third of Ingenovis’ employees are back in the office, one-third work entirely from home, and one-third do a hybrid mix of remote and in-person work. Even as more corporations are moving to call workers back to the office, arguing it’s better for preserving …

The fight over working from home goes global
1 year, 5 months ago

The fight over working from home goes global

Live Mint  

Remote work has a target on its back. Across the world, plans for remote working by employers fall short of what workers want, according to WFH Research, a group that includes Stanford University and the Ifo Institute, a German think-tank, which has tracked the sentiment of full-time workers with at least a secondary education in 34 countries. Communication records of …

Remote staff pay for shared office space to escape working from home
1 year, 6 months ago

Remote staff pay for shared office space to escape working from home

The Telegraph  

Once a haunt of trendy start-ups and freelance creatives, “co-working spaces” have recently attracted a new sort of clientele. It suggests that more than three years since offices across the country closed their doors during the first Covid lockdown, with many having never returned full time, fatigued staff are looking to escape working from home. “Working from home really started …

Working from home becomes a once-a-week perk for some office goers
1 year, 6 months ago

Working from home becomes a once-a-week perk for some office goers

LA Times  

The entrance to Walt Disney Co. headquarters is seen from West Alameda Avenue in Burbank. It’s a form of RTO creep, as companies test what has emerged as the post-pandemic norm of two to three days in the office and fan the debate over remote work. BlackRock has said employees must be in the office four days a week starting …

Steven Rattner's NYT op-ed about remote work does not live in the same universe most workers do.
1 year, 9 months ago

Steven Rattner's NYT op-ed about remote work does not live in the same universe most workers do.

Slate  

Last week in the New York Times, investment executive and former Obama administration adviser Steven Rattner argued, in a piece called “Is Working From Home Really Working?,” that the increasing prevalence of remote work reflects a change not just in technological capacity and social circumstances but in the United States’ entire attitude toward labor—a change that is “not for the …

Employers still allowing work-from-home, but not as much as employees want
1 year, 9 months ago

Employers still allowing work-from-home, but not as much as employees want

NL Times  

Employees who want to work from home can usually do so for part of the week, but often not as much as they’d like. Employers allow their staff some time working from home but prefer to see them at the office, EenVandaag concluded after surveying over 5,000 people who can work from home, including 300 entrepreneurs with staff. Most employees, …

Will recession put an end to work from home in 2023?
2 years ago

Will recession put an end to work from home in 2023?

Firstpost  

A shortage of labour gave employees more say in the last two years, but this could change in 2023 as a recession looms large. While remote work has become the norm with many companies making it or at least hybrid work part of the policy, top executives the world over remain divided over it. Stephen Fear, the founder of the …

Surge in remote working due to COVID fuels record employment for people with disabilities
2 years ago

Surge in remote working due to COVID fuels record employment for people with disabilities

LA Times  

After generations of being overlooked and sidelined in the job market, Americans with disabilities are enjoying an unprecedented employment boom — thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. “I never thought I would be able to do community organization remotely.” Yet for all the gains made since the pandemic, disability rights advocates say many capable people with disabilities remain unemployed or underemployed …

Op-Ed: How working remotely can bring workers closer together
2 years, 1 month ago

Op-Ed: How working remotely can bring workers closer together

LA Times  

Remote working necessitated by the pandemic can help guide organizations toward making work better, regardless of where the work gets done. What undermines our personal interactions isn’t whether they’re in-person or remote, it’s whether we pay attention to one another. In contrast, workers I interviewed recalled that their in-office interactions felt less human, because those connections, for the most part, …

‘Work from home’ hinders creativity and innovation, claims study
2 years, 4 months ago

‘Work from home’ hinders creativity and innovation, claims study

Hindustan Times  

Now your boss has compelling scientific data to ask you to return to the office, abandoning work from home setup. A new study reported by MIT news suggests that a remote working environment has a negative impact on our work relationship, which impairs innovation and creativity in our job. The study says that email communications between different research units fell …

Has remote work changed the travel landscape?
2 years, 5 months ago

Has remote work changed the travel landscape?

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “I got three weeks of …

The companies doubling down on remote work
2 years, 5 months ago

The companies doubling down on remote work

BBC  

The companies doubling down on remote work Getty Images Some CEOs are permanently shutting office space to give up on hybrid set-ups and fully embrace working from home. “I would think that it's non-reversible workers won't want to go back into the office.” For companies with the flexibility to take such a dramatic decision, the option is becoming increasingly appealing …

Is remote work worse for wellbeing than people think?
2 years, 6 months ago

Is remote work worse for wellbeing than people think?

BBC  

Is remote work worse for wellbeing than people think? But new research into remote work and wellbeing has shown mixed results – in Microsoft’s 2022 New Future of Work Report, researchers found that although remote work can improve job satisfaction, it can also lead to employees feeling “socially isolated, guilty and trying to overcompensate”. Getty Images Many people can feel …

The people who hate working from home
2 years, 6 months ago

The people who hate working from home

BBC  

The people who hate working from home Getty Images The loudest voices may be remote-work advocates, but plenty of other people can’t get back to the office fast enough. Not to leave your house for long periods of time, I don’t think it’s good for you.” Getty Images Working from home can be isolating for many people, who crave the …

The new-age of workspaces
2 years, 8 months ago

The new-age of workspaces

The Hindu  

When one thinks of pre-2020 and how companies competed with one another to emerge as an employer of choice, the focus lay primarily on building office spaces in major urban centres around the world, with advanced designs and state-of-the-art workplace amenities, as they were the key selling points. At the back of this trend, corporate offices are moving to a …

The simmering tension between remote and in-office workers
2 years, 9 months ago

The simmering tension between remote and in-office workers

BBC  

The simmering tension between remote and in-office workers Getty Images Companies are calling employees back to the workplace – but not all of them. “While we can submit return-to-office queries during virtual meetings, they’re never been answered directly.” As pandemic restrictions end, more and more companies are calling employees back to the office – yet the rules are not universal …

Op-Ed: Of course many people of color prefer remote work. It helps dodge office weirdness
2 years, 9 months ago

Op-Ed: Of course many people of color prefer remote work. It helps dodge office weirdness

LA Times  

A November survey of knowledge workers found that 86% of Latino workers and 81% of Asian/Asian American and Black workers would prefer a hybrid or fully remote arrangement, compared with 75% of their white counterparts. “People,” who, in a November survey of 10,737 knowledge workers conducted by the workplace research consortium Future Forum, indicated they preferred remote work over office …

The 'ghost colleagues' of the remote workplace
2 years, 9 months ago

The 'ghost colleagues' of the remote workplace

BBC  

The 'ghost colleagues' of the remote workplace Getty Images Remote working during the pandemic shrank employees’ worlds. Even if people didn’t directly work together or weren’t on the same team, employees had at least some colleagues to exchange a few casual words with throughout the workday. Getty Images Casual chats with officemates outside a team were a staple of in-person …

Op-Ed: Work life will never be the same. We need some in-person days and some remote
2 years, 11 months ago

Op-Ed: Work life will never be the same. We need some in-person days and some remote

LA Times  

Working from home surged twelvefold between 2017-2018 and May 2020. Surveys of 50,000 workers across the country find they want to work from home 2.5 days a week on average after the pandemic. Employees working from home frequently tell me how they enjoy the freedom of being able to go to the gym or see the dentist during a week …

Remote working new normal; 82% employees prefer working from home: Study
2 years, 11 months ago

Remote working new normal; 82% employees prefer working from home: Study

The Hindu  

With the COVID-19 pandemic bringing unprecedented changes in work life, a study has revealed that 82% respondents admitted that they prefer working from home to going back to the office. The remote work trend was initially forced on employees due to the pandemic, however, after two years remote working has become a new normal and as things settled down new …

The future of work is hybrid – here’s an expert’s recommendations for success
3 years, 1 month ago

The future of work is hybrid – here’s an expert’s recommendations for success

Salon  

COVID-19 has changed the way we work. One thing stands out: Hybrid work arrangements – that is, employees who do some tasks in the office and others virtually – is clearly going to be a big part of the picture. One survey from April 2021 shows 99% of human resources leaders expect employees to work in some kind of hybrid …

‘You Are Mommy Tracked to the Billionth Degree’
3 years, 1 month ago

‘You Are Mommy Tracked to the Billionth Degree’

Politico  

While no one can be sure what workplaces will look like once we’re far removed from the pandemic — whenever that will be — the way we work will likely be altered in the long run. “They’ll expect the committed workers to come back, too.” “ It can be hard to tell if you are being treated differently than others, …

We’re not abusing remote working – it’s a lifeline for carers like me
3 years, 3 months ago

We’re not abusing remote working – it’s a lifeline for carers like me

The Independent  

This week, remote working has again been in the spotlight after city bosses declared it unproductive. I have to carefully consider every job opportunity based on what I am able to juggle, not what I’m capable of doing or where it may take my career, until the shift to working from home. The switch to remote and hybrid working means …

Dropbox billionaire predicts 40-hour workweek will become a ‘thing of the past’
3 years, 3 months ago

Dropbox billionaire predicts 40-hour workweek will become a ‘thing of the past’

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Research commissioned this summer by IWG plc surveyed 1,000 …

What bosses really think about remote work
3 years, 4 months ago

What bosses really think about remote work

BBC  

What bosses really think about remote work Getty Images Many managers are itching to get staff back to the office, despite employees championing alternative set-ups. “They start saying, ‘OK, now, you took the second vaccine, you need to be at the office’.” All this is fuelling debates about why exactly bosses are turning their backs on remote setups faster than …

Why remote work is a big problem for the economy
3 years, 5 months ago

Why remote work is a big problem for the economy

CNN  

New York CNN Business — Americans are trickling back to their pre-pandemic workplaces, but most offices are still largely empty. The Metropolitan Transit Authority received nearly $4 billion in government funding through the CARES Act, but fare and toll revenues aren’t expected to come back to their previous levels until 2023, according to a report from the Office of the …

The People Who’d Rather Quit Than Give Up Remote Work
55 years ago

The People Who’d Rather Quit Than Give Up Remote Work

Slate  

Few people are as knee-deep in our work-related anxieties and sticky office politics as Alison Green, who has been fielding workplace questions for a decade now on her website Ask a Manager. That’s because for many people remote work has been great—the lack of commute, flexible schedule, and more casual dress have provided a massive quality-of-life boon for many of …

Salesforce exec discusses post-pandemic playbook for work
3 years, 6 months ago

Salesforce exec discusses post-pandemic playbook for work

Associated Press  

After reshaping their businesses to deal with threats posed by the pandemic, many companies are facing another daunting challenge: how to bring remote workers back to the office when people are still debating face masks and not everyone has received the COVID-19 vaccine. A: Quite honestly, in the U.S., I am not sure people are super ready to get back …

Remote work is the new signing bonus
3 years, 6 months ago

Remote work is the new signing bonus

Live Mint  

After almost a year and a half of working from home, many white-collar employees say they are not willing to return to corporate offices full-time. Hardly anyone will return to Allstate’s offices full time, Ms. Blair says, after employees expressed in surveys that they didn’t want to and the company found most functions don’t require an office setting. “Instead of …

Less office space, more video screens: How one company is embracing hybrid work
3 years, 7 months ago

Less office space, more video screens: How one company is embracing hybrid work

LA Times  

A paper sheet is taped atop a television screen at Clorox Co.’s newly redesigned headquarters. “Everybody wants to know how many days they’ll work on site and how many at home,” Marriner said. “We’ll use July to December as an extended transition period,” Marriner said, and use data and direct experience to begin to make decisions on new work arrangements. …

WeWork CEO says ‘least engaged’ people want to work from home. What do studies tell us?
3 years, 7 months ago

WeWork CEO says ‘least engaged’ people want to work from home. What do studies tell us?

Hindustan Times  

The chief executive officer of communal work space company WeWork said that “uberly engaged” employees to come back to the office after the pandemic forced them to work from home. WeWork CEO Sandeep Mathrani’s statement triggered a backlash online as he told a remote audience at The Wall Street Journal’s Future of Everything Festival that “least engaged” employees are very …

Want to work from home permanently? How to make it happen
3 years, 7 months ago

Want to work from home permanently? How to make it happen

LA Times  

Ben Jarso, an avid skier, recently bought a home in Truckee, Calif., after moving from the San Francisco area. “Not all companies are willing or able to accommodate such requests long term, but if you don’t speak up, your manager won’t know.” In many workplaces, remote work arrangements are generally decided categorically, rather than on a case-by-case basis, employment advisor …

Here's how working from home makes you more productive
3 years, 8 months ago

Here's how working from home makes you more productive

Hindustan Times  

The great work-from-home experiment occasioned by the pandemic has divided opinion in the corporate suite and sparked endless debates about whether employees work as effectively from the kitchen table as they do from the office. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer David Solomon has called the new arrangements “an aberration” that the investment bank will “correct as quickly as …

Some workers can’t wait to get back to the office
3 years, 8 months ago

Some workers can’t wait to get back to the office

CNN  

While some employees are enjoying the flexibility of working from home, Janell Longa can’t wait to return to the office. “I am really keen to get back to the office,” said Sarah Williams, associate director of the Business School, University of Wolverhampton, UK, who’s been working from home for more than a year. “For me, that blurring of the lines …

One year of Covid-19 pandemic: Companies fighting complexities of hybrid workspace
3 years, 9 months ago

One year of Covid-19 pandemic: Companies fighting complexities of hybrid workspace

India Today  

A year after the first Covid-19 case was reported, it is obvious that the pandemic’s impact on the future of work and workplaces is here to stay. With working remotely it has become even more important for employees to stay connected by attending virtual gatherings, maintaining a high level of enthusiasm, and highlight professional accomplishments. Remote work makes cybersecurity vital …

Working from home isn’t working, at least for the young
3 years, 9 months ago

Working from home isn’t working, at least for the young

The Independent  

Goldman Sachs has come under attack for the pressures put on junior members of staff. But the most interesting point he made – one that affects people far beyond the lofty heights of New York investment banking – was this: “In this world of remote work, it feels like we have to be connected 24/7.” If your office is your …

Is the five-day commute over? New data suggests people only want to work in the office ‘two days a week’
3 years, 9 months ago

Is the five-day commute over? New data suggests people only want to work in the office ‘two days a week’

The Independent  

Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about …

The bosses who want us back at work
3 years, 9 months ago

The bosses who want us back at work

BBC  

The bosses who want us back in the office Alamy We assume remote work is here to stay – but some of the loudest voices in the corporate world are rallying to get employees back in offices. “It’s an aberration that we are going to correct as quickly as possible.” Jes Staley, chief executive of Barclays, voiced similar sentiments in …

A proposed bill of rights for the remote worker
3 years, 9 months ago

A proposed bill of rights for the remote worker

Live Mint  

The past year has seen millions of employees transition to remote work—often under pretty rotten conditions. There is, unfortunately, no work-from-home equivalent of a Miranda warning: a list of the rights employees can expect as remote workers to ensure their fair treatment in the new workplace. It’s the duty of your employer to provide you with the infrastructure you need …

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