In an ironic twist, managers at Zoom recently informed their staff that they wanted them to spend more time in the office rather than always working from home. During COVID, many commercial organizations and institutions such as schools moved either to exclusively working from home or the so-called hybrid model, where employees alternate between working at home with a few days spent in the office.

In some cases workers are encouraged to work remotely or to stay in the office during breaks because of neighborhood crime. Blue Cross/Blue Shield workers in Oakland are in that situation and the company arranges rides for their workers to help keep them safe. Another by-product of leftist policies on policing.

Another incentive for remote work is the cost of commuting. A 2022 study found that drivers in major U.S. cities lost an average of 51 hours due to traffic. This could amount to thousands of dollars per year in lost time and fuel. In large metropolitan areas it’s not unusual for people to spend an hour or two each way commuting to work. Mass transit helps, but it’s expensive. If people can be just as productive from home as they are in the office then they’re liable to jump at the chance.

The key words here being “just as productive”.

I have a relative who works as a supervisor for a government agency that does investigations. Let’s call her “Donna”. Like many others her office moved to the hybrid model during COVID. Donna and her co-workers are expected to be in the office 9–5, three days per week and the other two at home. It runs on an honor system, each employee making up his own schedule. When they’re working remotely, investigators and supervisors are expected to remain at home and put in their eight hours. What they’re finding is that the number of open cases are rising without good explanations. When the investigators and the supervisors are asked why they’re not closing cases they reply “My cases are harder”.

Donna has been doing this for a while and tells me the cases haven’t become more difficult, they’re about the same as they were pre-COVID.

While federal regulations limit open investigations from this office to ten, some, but not all of her investigators are carrying as many as twenty. Why are some employees closing cases while others are not? She says remote work has come to be expected and it looks like it’s being abused.

A study by Stanford University found that 60% of workers are on-site full time and they tend to be the lowest paid: retail, food service, etc. Hybrid workers comprise 30%, are in the office 2–3 days per week and are usually the highest paid. They also tend to work remotely on Mondays and Fridays. I wonder why? Fully remote workers account for the remaining 10%.

The Stanford study found that productivity tends to be lower among remote workers. The biggest causes were difficulties in communication, coordination, and distractions. When people work from home they tend to spend more time scrolling through social media, shopping online, watching television and running errands. In spite of that when remote workers are polled they report they “feel” more productive when working at home.

Monica Showalter posted an article here discussing how many federal employees work from home and the impact this has on governmental efficiency. Charlie Kirk found that 85% of federal employees only come into the office one day a month. How efficient is our government? After purchasing Twitter, Elon Musk laid off over 6,000 employees representing 80% of the company’s staff. It’s running just as well now with only 1,500 employees.

During COVID many schools adopted the hybrid model or went to remote-learning, and students suffered. One study found that schools would have to teach 150% of a single year’s curriculum for three consecutive years just for students to catch up.

Despite these realities, other studies show that remote work can boost productivity. An internal study by Microsoft found that the length of the average work week increased by about 10% after they shifted to remote work. Another study found that remote workers devoted almost half their commuting time to work-related activities.

The determining factor seems to be individual discipline. Responsible workers who stick to their schedules are able to be productive no matter where they are while those who are easily distracted, unmotivated, or just lazy will goof off whether they’re in the office or at home.

Perhaps simply setting definitive goals and stating clear expectations for employees is all that’s needed. Those employees who work remotely or utilize a hybrid model and continue to meet those goals and expectations should be allowed to carry on, while those who fall short should spend more or all of their time in the office where they can be supervised more closely. 

Failing that, let the DOGE ax fall.

Image: Vivek Ramaswamy, Public Domain.