Co-Author of Remote Works book || MDiv Candidate '26 at Harvard || Ex-IDEO, Google, Automattic, & Oliver Wyman
While it's easy to surmise the pros/cons of #WFH vs the #office, #Stanford economists released a paper this summer on a randomized control trial. Here's what happened... The set-up: A large tech firm asked 1612 employees with odd birthdays to WFH on Wednesdays and Fridays. Even birthdays were left full-time in the office. The results: 1. WFH reduced attrition rates by 35% and improved self-reported work satisfaction scores. 2. WFH reduced hours worked on home days but increased it on other work days and the weekend, highlighting how home-working alters the structure of the working week. 3. WFH employees increased individual messaging and group video call communication, even when in the office, reflecting the impact of remote work on working patterns. 4. There was no significant impact of WFH on performance ratings or promotions, lines of code written increased by 8%, and employees' self-assessed productivity was up 1.8%. One day, I think we'll move away from the #remote vs. #hybrid vs. #office and become digital-first workers, allowing for #flexible work schedules and new ways of working.
