Tension Over Remote Work Might Soon Create “Huge Battles”

It seems like remote work is here to stay, but some experts are saying that the matter is far from settled. According to recent research that collected responses from 17,000 employees in the US on their attitudes regarding remote work, about 50 percent of respondents said they prefer a fully remote or hybrid work arrangement. This attitude, however, does not match the majority of leadership—particularly at large companies. Nicholas Bloom, an economics professor at Stanford University who has been studying remote work for nearly 20 years, says to expect “huge battles” in the coming months over what the future of work will look like. “If you look at who the decision makers at the big firms are, they are usually older, non-minority men who have no young kids in the house,” Bloom explains. “If you’re a 55-year-old man that’s a CEO, it might be hard for you to understand how many of your employees really need hybrid/remote work.” If management refuses to budge, an immediate consequence will be a worsening of the turnover we are seeing now. “It’s a perfect storm,” Bloom says. “You have executives pushing for a return to the office, employees wanting to work from home, and a tight labor market.”