Remote Work Is Dead

Recently we have seen well-known figures from the business world questioning whether remote work is a good idea, such as Sam Altman of OpenAI [here], Elon Musk of Tesla [here] or Jose Elías Navarro of Audax España [here].

If we go by studies such as “The evolution of working from home” from Stanford University, remote work would cut the productivity of those working this way by as much as 10%.

The reasons why remote work doesn’t work are varied: the loss of creativity that comes from chance encounters or face-to-face team meetings, a lack of commitment and sense of belonging, greater competition within the workforce, etc…

“It works on my machine” is a phrase we technologists hear all the time in our day-to-day, and I think this whole remote work business is a bit along those lines.

I’m not saying there are no benefits to being able to interact with your colleagues in person on a regular basis, but come on… Let’s be honest…

How many pointless meetings that could have been sorted with an email have you sat through in your life?

The very Stanford study cited above stresses that the hybrid working model has no effect whatsoever on productivity.

I honestly believe we are missing the chance to adapt to the new reality of remote work, companies and employees alike.

Working together to create new dynamics to update onboarding, the exchange of ideas or personal time management.

Let’s not dress up the culture of presenteeism and the tired old “oh, well, while we’re on the subject…” as some kind of emotional salary and loyalty to the business…

Admittedly, not everyone yet has the tools to organise, optimise and divide up their time, but I believe it’s something we still have time to work on.

Competition as an employee is global, and it’s unstoppable with the help of artificial intelligence. And as a freelancer? It’s giving superpowers to the one-man army.

The world keeps turning, and we turn with it.

And perhaps it isn’t true either that there is any change in productivity at companies that have forced people back into the office, or at least that is what emerges from the paper “Return-To-Office Mandate” by members of the University of Pittsburgh Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business.

Once again we find ourselves in a polarised debate, where everyone has their own opinion, likes and dislikes, and that’s a lovely thing.

You know I sometimes like to flirt with conspiracy theories and think the worst, and in this case, beyond what each of us thinks is best for our business, might property owners have a vested interest in getting us back into the office?

If we think about some recurring problems such as Spain’s emptied-out countryside, unaffordable rents in big cities, pollution from obsolete cars over 10 years old still on the road, work-life balance or the physical stress caused by a poor diet and lack of rest; don’t you think they would ease a little by giving workers the freedom to choose where and how they work, rather than regulating their lives by law?

And yes, it’s true, not every job can enjoy remote work today, and I’m afraid that with every year that passes, fewer of those jobs will be needed to keep the world running.

But then we’d be getting into my view that creativity is what sets us human beings apart, and being chained to repetitive, mechanical or non-empathetic tasks is not what we are destined for, even if we know how to do them.

But that’s another story, as Andoni Garrido would say.

Remote work is dead! Long live remote work! (Bloody hell xD)

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Originally published on LinkedIn on 18 May 2024.