Remote work (“WFH”) was often the default mode of working during the recent pandemic, because of lockdown. But beyond this one-off effect, the question remains whether remote working will endure and become part of the “new normal”. We formalize a simple company-employee work-at-home decision model, which takes into account both worker preferences and the company’s strategic incentive to invest in supporting work-at-home practices. The model predictions are then tested on a large sample of global firms across the world, regarding their evolution in WFH intensity and how WFH changes correlate with labor productivity changes. We find that technologies facilitating WFH, and to a lesser extent, active human resources, are needed to make work from home more productive. Said otherwise, the future of WFH depends on how technology will be able to “augment” labor effectiveness.
Part of the book: The Changing Landscape of Workplace and Workforce [Working title]