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Approximately 25% of U.S. employees work remotely, either all the time or part of the time.

Leaders and employees may see benefits and costs of remote work differently.

Face-to-face interactions may contribute to personal and organizational success.

The COVID pandemic (2020-2023) changed the world of work, especially for those who work in offices. In 2019 in the U.S., fewer than 6% of employees were working remotely. During the peak of the pandemic, surveys suggested remote workers, including those who worked at home part of the time, increased to over 50%. Today, surveys find about 25% of employees work remotely at least part of the time. Of these, about 10% work away from the office, mostly at home, all the time.

Attitudes toward remote work vary. In 2020 The Wall Street Journal published remarks about remote work from 19 CEOs in different industries: 9 remarks were negative; 3, positive; 7, undecided. Two concerns were the quality of work and productivity. Studies have found that usually these have remained the same or improved. But the CEOs expressed other concerns: the lack of social interaction could affect personal growth and professional development, and also affect innovation and creativity. Research has found these concerns to be valid.

On the other hand, most employees are very positive about working remotely. Remote work is more convenient for managing work and other activities, such as home tasks or childcare. Autonomy allows for more flexibility. Hybrid schedules are compromises between home and office. These require employees to be physically in the office a certain number of days each week or in the office on specific weekdays.

But there can be downsides to not working at the office. Peter Cappelli (Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania) and Jasmine Wu (now at the University of Texas at Austin) conducted group interviews about remote work with over 750 employees of a multinational company. Among their findings:

People working remotely focused more on individual tasks.

They focused less on collective tasks involving others.

Cooperation was more difficult.

Social relationships eroded affecting organizational culture.

For new employees, learning the ropes was challenging.

Cappelli and Wu concluded that face-to-face interactions are important in building social relationships essential to making office work successful.

Years ago, my office was one of several that had to relocate to a building 10 miles from the rest of our organization. Daily face-to-face interactions with others in the organization no longer happened. Communication became more difficult. The conversations and useful information we obtained interacting informally were gone. It was harder to stay in the loop. It took effort to make sure we did not become “out of sight, out of mind.”

In 2021 in The Wall Street Journal, Cappelli suggested we may be heading toward a two-tier workplace. Employees in the office have better access to managers, receive more attention, have more face time, and are more likely to be promoted. Cappelli’s comments are consistent with our knowledge of the workplace. We are more likely to interact with others who are nearby than with people who are farther away or not physically present. All things being equal, in most organizations managers will be more inclined to favor the on-site worker they see every day over the remote worker with whom they interact virtually. As Cappelli suggests, a two-tier system may naturally develop.

Organizations take different approaches to remote work based on many factors. There are jobs where there are no issues with working remotely, and others where it would be difficult. Depending on the organization, one policy for all may not be the best approach. Organizations are still at the experimental stage regarding remote work and some of us are part of that experiment. For organizations, and for each individual, remote work is a matter of costs, benefits, and preferences.

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Cappelli, P. (2021, August 13). In a hybrid office, remote workers will be left behind. The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/workplace/hybrid-workplace-promotions-116…

Cappelli, P., & Wu, J. (2025, March 16). How remote work alters the tasks of office work. SSRN. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5193221

Cutter, C. (2020, September 23). What CEOs really think about remote work. The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-ceos-really-think-about-remote-work-1…

Haan, K. (2026, February 2). Top remote work statistics and trends. Forbes Advisor. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/remote-work-statistics/

Leonardi, P. M., Parker, S. H., & Shen, R. (2024). How remote work changes the world of work. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 11(1), 193-219. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-091922-015852

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