Remote work, for millions of employees, has long gone from a nice-to-have to a must-have; 40% of U.S. employees currently work remotely for at least one day a week. That figure comes from WFH Research, led by professors Jose Maria Barrero, Nicholas Bloom, and Steven J. Davis. They've been surveying Americans’ working arrangements since May 2020, becoming one of the ultimate authorities on remote work.
The researchers have long maintained that some form of flexible work is the only way forward for most workplaces (“In 2023, we’ll be laughing at anyone who does anything else but hybrid,” Bloom told Fortune last fall). But their latest working paper, published by Stanford’s Institute for Economic Policy and Research, delivers a blow to work-from-home advocates: Fully remote work is associated with 10% to 20% lower productivity than fully in-person work.
