The world is still grappling with the widespread adoption of remote work—with cultural differences and employer disagreements pressing the issue.
Key Details
- Different countries have embraced remote work and return-to-office mandates to differing degrees, but the effects are being felt globally.
- McKinsey Global Institute estimates that remote work shifts could erase as much as $800 billion to $1.3 trillion in global real estate value by 2030.
- Asian workers are generally embracing the office, U.S. workers are fighting for remote, while European workers are shifting employment policies, Bloomberg reports.
- European policymakers in six countries have pushed for greater flexibility in remote options, even in cultures that generally value in-person office work.
Why It’s Important
Remote work remains one of the most controversial issues affecting the business world, with millions of workers actively preferring remote options rather than reporting to an office, but the problems surrounding the practice are not the same in every country. Massive cultural differences have affected how remote work has been embraced by different cultures.
Asian countries with smaller living spaces have generally embraced office mandates, while countries with inefficient public transportation, like the U.S., have preferred remote options. Asian and European workers have been far quicker to embrace the office. Americans similarly self-report high productivity rates at home, while Indian workers note an 18% decline, Bloomberg reports.
However, the relative benefits for Americans have played into a general tension in the real estate market. As we previously noted, the prevalence of remote jobs has contributed to a decline in office real estate, with the total vacancy rate for office space exceeding 20% in April. These pressures will continue to create new debates surrounding the efficacy of remote work, with many politicians in Europe going out of their way to craft policies that incentivize companies to embrace it.
American companies like Amazon and Zoom have recently heavily cracked down on remote work, while organizations like Disney and Google have implemented hybrid options that require employees to return for three to four days of the work week—although these efforts contributed to the “Great Resignation” and led thousands of Americans to seek greener pastures.
With fears stirring of a resurgent strain of COVID-19 intensifying this fall, it remains unlikely that the genie of remote work will ever be able to be put back in the bottle, even as the economy cools and companies gain the ability to exert more control over employees.
