What remote jobs tell us about inequality

What remote jobs tell us about inequality Alamy Not every worker in every job can hit the ground running in a home-work set-up. Alamy While about 97% of legal work and 88% of jobs in business and finance could be done remotely, only 3% in transport and 1% in farming, fisheries and forestry could The ability to transition to remote working also comes with a host of other benefits beyond simply holding onto your job, says Dingel. The economic impact of the pandemic could be highly unequal, severely impacting some industries and regions while leaving others relatively unscathed They found jobs involving “knowledge work”, like those done by office managers and accountants, had a much easier time shifting work online compared to manual or customer-facing occupations like construction workers or hospitality staff. Workers whose careers are disrupted can earn lower wages for decades afterwards, says Dingel, so countries and cities less able to shift to remote work could face severe “economic scarring”. His research shows remote working in Europe is strongly tied to higher earnings, so existing income inequality could be compounded by a widening gap in access to the benefits of remote work.