The Case for Work from Home

Abstract

The 2019 COVID-19 pandemic forced half of the U.S. workforce to work-from-home (WFH) (Brynjolfsson et al., 2020). The mass adoption of WFH was largely attributed as an action to contain the pandemic. However, economists at the National Bureau of Economic Research estimate that over 37% of jobs in the U.S. can be performed fully from home (Dingel & Neiman, 2020). Yet, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) opinion poll conducted in early 2021, few executives believed their organization’s culture could support a WFH future. JP Morgan Chase’s CEO, Jamie Dimon, says WFH does not work for younger generations or high-performing employees (Son & Giel, 2021). As a result, the CEO of the United States’ largest bank announced plans to resume in-office work by the fourth quarter of 2021. In the following essay, I examine the nuance in WFH and discuss why Mr. Dimon and other like-minded executives may need to reconsider their positions. Ryan Roslansky, CEO of Linkedin, a professional networking website, was asked what his company learned from data collected on its 800 million global members. According to Roslansky, the nature of work is shifting (Simons, 2021). Organizations and CEOs are realizing the importance of rethinking their organization, “their values, and what it means to work at their company” (Simons, 2021, para. 2). Economic data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests that Mr. Roslansky may be on to something. The great resignation, a phenomenon in which a greater proportion of Americans are abandoning their employment more than ever before to pursue new possibilities, is becoming a reality (Carter, 2021). The rate of individuals leaving their jobs is continually increasing (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2021). In the aftermath of the pandemic, a robust WFH program could provide organizations with a competitive advantage in recruitment and retention. Glassdoor.com, a renowned job search website, saw a 360% increase in employment searches for WFH opportunities between June 2019 and June 2021 (Zhang, 2021). Meanwhile, the online job boards Indeed and ZipRecruiter reported higher demand for WFH positions in the current market (Kelly, 2021). According to a ZipRecruiter survey of over 2500 job seekers, 60% of respondents favored WFH positions (Pollak, 2021). The Boston Consulting Group discovered that the pandemic altered people’s expectations for work. Their study, involving over 209,000 participants from 190 nations, showed as many as 89% of those polled expressed an interest in WFH (Strack et al., 2021). Synchronously, the COVID-19 pandemic and stay-at-home directives led many to reconsider their career paths. People have a newfound willingness to take risks and switch careers or jobs for a better quality of life (Lipman, 2021). Organizations that rethink work and adopt WFH models may slow the great resignation and gain a significant recruitment tool. Aside from recruiting and retention, research on WFH suggests that organizations can benefit from increased productivity. According to PwC, more than half of its employers polled on WFH noticed increased employee productivity (Caglar et al., 2021). The findings of PwC appear to be congruent with those of other consulting firms. When evaluating WFH, the management consulting company, McKinsey & Company, observed similar increases in reported productivity. Employees first reported a 41% improvement in productivity, which was later revised to 45% in subsequent assessments (Lund et al., 2020). Similarly, Mercer, a human resources consulting organization, discovered that WFH programs enhanced productivity for 94% of the polled employers (Mercer, 2020). Even so, productivity is a subjective concept. The ability of a manager to evaluate an employee’s productivity is greatly dependent on the manager’s relationship with their employee, regardless of physical location. Prior to the pandemic, the average worker spent 16% of their time in meetings and 23% on email during a typical workday (James, 2019). While a worker’s physical location may differ if they WFH rather than in an office, the amount of time assigned to such administrative activities is unlikely to change. Also, balancing home and work priorities is a factor that influences WFH productivity (Lund et al., 2020). Organizations that are apprehensive of WFH can investigate the use of work management technologies. However, data output from technology tools is only as dependable as the manager’s awareness of the employee’s activity, just as it is with staff management in