Retaining the transportation benefits of COVID-19 induced work from home: Understanding the role of worker productivity

The abrupt switch to work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic has not only altered people’s commutes but also changed their entire work-life balance. While some workers were quick to adapt and maintain or even increase productivity, others experienced a decrease in productivity. Self-assessed productivity changes after switching from traditional in-person work to work from home is studied using a survey of 3,780 workers (including full-time college students). A probabilistic statistical model is used to estimate the probabilities that workers’ self-reported productivity during the pandemic remained the same, decreased, in some ways increased and in other ways decreased, or increased. The model estimation results identify workers who were resilient and adaptable (having a higher probability of increasing their productivity) and those less adaptive workers, who were more likely to experience a decrease in productivity. It was found that race, ethnicity, household income, household size, education, gender, the presence of children in the household, level of life satisfaction, being a student, prior experience with online meetings, and commute distances all play a role in how the workers’ productivity changed. This study provides insights for the development of effective policies to improve equity (by targeting vulnerable populations) and sustainability (by retaining the transportation and environmental benefits of telework) in the post COVID-19 reality.