And working remotely is now extremely common, though under very challenging conditions, as I’ve written about earlier.Īnd a number of corporations are developing plans for more work-from-home options beyond the pandemic. The stigma associated with working from home prior to COVID-19 has disappeared. Why do you think working remotely is morphing into a more permanent reality? Working from home is not only economically essential, it is a critical weapon in our fight against COVID-19 – and future pandemics. The economy would have collapsed, forcing us to return to work, reigniting infection rates. Without this historic switch to working from home, the lockdown could never have lasted. How vital was the swift shift to working at home during the COVID crisis? gross domestic product based on their earnings, this enlarged group of work-from-home employees now accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S.

More strikingly, if we consider the contribution to U.S. Almost twice as many employees are working from home as at work. And the remaining 26 percent – mostly essential service workers – are working on their business premises. About another 33 percent are not working – a testament to the savage impact of the lockdown recession. labor force now working from home full-time. We see an incredible 42 percent of the U.S. Now you’ve identified a new “working-from-home economy.” Why is that? We live in an information economy and a gig economy.

And in a related SIEPR Policy Brief, he expands on his findings and offers policymakers and business leaders suggestions for making remote-work a permanent part of the labor landscape.

Here, Bloom discusses the societal impacts of working from home and what his latest research reveals. Since the coronavirus crisis broke out, his 2014 study on working from home and ongoing research with other colleagues on business firms have been in high demand as policymakers and others scramble to better understand the shifting dynamics of the workforce and its economic implications. Eberle Professor of Economics in Stanford’s School of Humanities and Sciences and a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR), focuses on labor economics, management practices and uncertainty. Results from several nationwide surveys Bloom has been conducting during the COVID-related economic shutdown provide a snapshot of the emerging new reality.īloom, who is the William D.

Work at home online businesses