The future of post-pandemic work may be less time in cubicles and more time at home.
Research conducted on both employees and employers has found that a universal return to five days in the office is not likely after COVID-19, said Nicholas Bloom, a professor of economics at Stanford University. Bloom told the Washington Examiner that a hybrid model of three days working from the office and two days working from home is emerging as a popular middle ground between pre-coronavirus and post-coronavirus work.
The professor said he and his fellow researchers, including Jose Barrero from ITAM in Mexico and Steve Davis from the University of Chicago, have been conducting surveys of between 2,500 and 5,000 employees each month since last May asking what their employers have told them about their company’s post-pandemic plans.
The researchers found that among those who are currently working from home, on average there will be two days of work from home per week after the pandemic. The researchers conducted a second survey of about 1,000 companies in the United States and received similar results for the average number of anticipated days that will be worked from home per employee each week.
Bloom wrote about the findings in an article published in the Guardian this week, showing how certain companies have embraced plans that emulate the averages found by researchers.
www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/pandemic-legacy-two-days-work-home-norm