ABSTRACT
217The demand from employers for remote-based work is increasing rapidly in many economies. Two trends are becoming clearly evident. First, the information technology and insurance industries are leading the field in offering opportunities for employees to work from home, with 74% of workers in those industries having access to remote work. But there are other industries, including finance, law, and business services, which could, in theory, do more of their work remotely. “Insights from the Glassdoor online platform show that access to working from home has nearly doubled since 2011, from 28% to 54% of workers mentioning that they had the opportunity to work from home” (World Economic Forum, 2020: 16). Second, global crises, such as the pandemic, accelerate new forms of work. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that working from home is possible at a greater scale than previously imagined, yet business leaders remain uncertain about the productivity outcomes of the shift to remote or hybrid work. Although there is some skepticism regarding these processes and their effects on productivity, changes are already in progress.
