When remote work works and when it doesn't

The Indicator from Planet Money

NPR

Business

4.7 • 9.2K Ratings

🗓️ 1 August 2023

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Do office workers get as much done working from home as they do in person? We've been debating this question for years.

At the beginning of the pandemic, many economists thought yes, people can be just as productive from home. Wouldn't it have been nice if they'd just stopped there?

Well, they didn't. And new evidence suggests working from home, at least full-time, may not be as productive as we once thought.

Some of the research referenced in this show:
Jose Maria Barrero, Nicholas Bloom and Steven J. Davis – The Evolution of Working from Home
Natalia Emanuel and Emma Harrington – Working Remotely?
Natalia Emanuel, Emma Harrington and Amanda Pallais – The Power of Proximity to Coworkers

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Transcript

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0:00.0	NPR.
0:12.3	And the results are in for remote work.
0:15.3	Yes, they are.
0:17.0	A lot of research has come in recently.
0:19.4	All trying to answer once and for all whether remote work is better or worse than being in
0:25.4	an office.
0:26.4	I think back to the early days of the pandemic when these discussions were red-hot.
0:31.1	Our very own Stacey Vanick Smith and Greg Rosowski had this debate over a couple of years ago.
0:36.4	And we actually have pretty different opinions on how things are going to shake out.
0:39.4	We do.
0:40.4	Stacey, I think the office is going to win the day after.
0:43.8	I'm still appalled by that standpoint, sorry Greg.
0:46.7	I am firmly with Stacey on this one.
0:48.6	You're much more aware of the work from home person.
0:50.4	I'm much more of an office person.
0:52.0	But today we put our personal prejudices aside and just look at what the evidence says.
0:57.1	You know, three years after this huge natural experiment caused by the pandemic, we want
1:02.3	to see the results.
1:03.3	This is the indicator from the money I'm Darren Woods.
1:06.6	And I'm Adrian Ma.
1:07.6	Today in the show, a roundup on remote work research and how the evidence is changing.
1:16.9	Jose Maria Barreiro is one of the top experts in working from home.
	...

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