While some American workers have gone back to the office, Gallup’s recent annual Work and Education poll shows that 33% are still working remotely full-time due to the coronavirus pandemic, with an additional 25% working from home part-time. Nearly two-thirds of U.S. workers who have been working remotely during the pandemic would like to continue to do so. And many will be able to with companies increasingly extending working from home through next summer.
While most workers might not have planned to go fully remote, the good news is the average company sees a 10% to 43% increase in productivity after making the switch, according to a report from the UNC Kenan–Flagler Business School.
There are other societal benefits as well, like reduced CO2 emissions due to a reduction in commuting. An international team of researchers at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact found that in the first half of 2020, 8.8% less carbon dioxide was emitted than in the same period in 2019 — a total decrease of 1551 million tons. To put it into perspective, this decrease is larger than during the financial crisis of 2008, the oil crisis of 1979, or even World War II.
But there are challenges for those juggling a career and family responsibilities at home. From new distractions, like homeschooling kids or sharing a workspace with a partner also working from home, to challenges collaborating with teammates remotely, working from home is undeniably different.
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