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***New research alert***
Is remote work going to cause problems because everyone will be socializing less? My new report is all about this question. Here is the report, and a quick thread... https://www.upwork.com/press/releases/economist-report-remote-work-and-socialization
Is remote work going to cause problems because everyone will be socializing less? My new report is all about this question. Here is the report, and a quick thread... https://www.upwork.com/press/releases/economist-report-remote-work-and-socialization
To start, it's important to avoid the mistake that so many keep making: working remotely during the pandemic is not the same as working remotely in normal times! There is a constant conflating of pandemic problems with remote work.
Remote work doesn't mean you are stuck at home in the basement, it means you have control over how much you socialize. You can still decide to have a very social work environment once the pandemic is over.
To see this, we surveyed 1,000 people who think they will be permanently remote going forward. What we found is 22% plan on working outside the home sometimes after the pandemic, in a variety of different places, from coffee shops to parks and other outdoor places.
But the reality is this estimate is likely low. New remote workers don't know all the options, and will have to experiment and learn. To show this we surveyed 1,000 Upwork remote freelancers. These are remote work experts. They work outside the home even more!
37.1% of Upwork remote freelancers work outside the home sometimes. We also let them answer a free text explanation for where they work and got answers like “On a beach surrounded by coconuts.” Remote work expands choices of work environment in ways we simply aren't appreciating
Finally, I raise another more speculative issue: while socializing at work clearly provides benefits to firms and workers, there is a downside: socializing can contribute to workplace discrimination.
One recent study found that men are more likely to be promoted when they have male managers, that socialization is the driving cause of this, and that this increases the gender pay gap by 40%. This study had very credible identification, worth a read https://www.nber.org/papers/w26530
While some may intuitively feel that working from home causes them to be less likely to get ahead at the office, they should consider whether this perceived advantage arises from exclusionary and discriminatory schmoozing.
Overall, I think pessimism around this issue is unbalanced. If you could go back few years to when people were bemoaning workaholism and people not spending enough time with their family, and show them today's complaints that people wont' spend enough time with coworkers...
Consider this 2019 article from @DKThomp: "Workism Is Making Americans Miserable: For the college-educated elite, work has morphed into a religious identity—promising transcendence and community, but failing to deliver." https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/02/religion-workism-making-americans-miserable/583441/
Where did this concern go? It vanished overnight. I think this is general pessimism towards change & technology combined with "pandemic thinking". Look beyond today people, this is a positive change, concerns are real but overall the pessimism is unwarranted.
Here's the piece again, end tweet storm. https://www.upwork.com/press/releases/economist-report-remote-work-and-socialization
