In response to businesses’ quick adoption of remote work during the pandemic, which saw the percentage of employed Americans working completely from home increase from 4 percent in 2019 to 54 percent in 2020, academics jumped at the chance to study the impacts of remote work on both workers and the economy as a whole.
According to an article by The New York Times, results seemingly showed a complex picture of the economy. As urban downtown brick-and-mortar companies suffered as a result of the decline in commuting, certain industries, like grocery shops, have managed to establish themselves in the suburbs. In the meantime, distant and hybrid workers vacated pricey urban residences, making rents increase in previously inexpensive markets.
More working mothers were able to continue in the workforce because of the flexibility of being allowed to work remotely. But when it comes to women’s professional progress, remote employment also appears to come with some severe drawbacks. While some studies reveal productivity improvements of 13 percent or even 24 percent, other studies have reported productivity decreases of between 8 and 19 percent, or drops of 4 percent for individual workers.
Most researchers concur that many organizations have now entered a new hybrid phase, where offices are approximately half as occupied as they were in the pre-pandemic period and around a quarter of American work days are spent working remotely.
In the early stages of the pandemic, when some 50 million Americans began working from home, brick-and-mortar stores centered in major downtowns suffered. A research utilizing transaction data from 70 million Chase Bank customers found that the number of downtown clothing businesses decreased by 8% between late 2019 and late 2021. Downtown general merchandise retailers, such as florists, bookstores, and department shops, had a 7 percent loss, while grocery stores saw a 2 percent decline.
Some of those companies relocated to the suburbs alongside remote workers. When compared to urban decline, the number of suburban food stores rose by around 3% over that time, especially in the suburbs where remote work rates were high. For low-income workers who cannot afford to reside in these places, some of which are affluent and where merchants may be recruiting, the transfer of stores from downtowns to suburbs is likely to prove challenging in the future years.
While some working women, especially moms, may benefit from working remotely, women often suffer more drawbacks. In a Fortune 500 business study of engineers, remote work had a detrimental impact on the amount of feedback junior workers received on their work, with the consequences being more severe for women.
Finally, CEOs have been debating whether work-from-anywhere arrangements hinder or enhance productivity. A study of remote workers for an Asian IT business during the pandemic revealed a drop in productivity of 8 to 19%. On the other hand, a study of the production of American economists during the epidemic revealed a nearly 24 percent boost in their productivity.
The impression is that this is just the beginning of a workplace revolution whose effects are just beginning to be seen
