Last July, I noted that studies that claim that telecommuters are less productive than those in fixed workplaces were unpersuasive because they “mostly dealt with low-skilled jobs such as call centers and data entry.” I’m not the only one who thinks so. Writing in Business Insider, Ed Zitron noted last week that studies of call centers are inapplicable because they “are extremely controlled and heavily micromanaged environments — ones rife with labor abuse.” Bottom line, Zitron concludes, managers pressing workers to return to offices “have no data to justify it.”
Working at home can be more comfortable and less stressful than working in and commuting to an office or other workplace. Photo by Roberto Nickson.
A much more persuasive report came out earlier this week comparing flex-work policies and revenue growth at 554 companies. It found that revenue growth over the past three years at companies with more flexible policies was 16 percent greater than companies that ordered employees back to workplaces when the pandemic ended. While this isn’t absolute proof that remote workers are more productive, it certainly contradicts those who say they are not. Continue reading
