working at home vs office essay

This website uses cookies to ensure the best user experience. Privacy & Cookies Notice Accept Cookies

Manage My Cookies

Manage Cookie Preferences

Confirm My Selections

Monetary Policy
Health Care
Climate Change
Artificial Intelligence
All Chicago Booth Review Topics

Illustration of a woman working from bed with her cats, laptop and chart papers

Are We Really More Productive Working from Home?

Data from the pandemic can guide organizations struggling to reimagine the new office..

By Rebecca Stropoli
August 18, 2021
CBR - Economics
Share This Page

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg isn’t your typical office worker. He was No. 3 on the 2020 Forbes list of the richest Americans, with a net worth of $125 billion, give or take. But there’s at least one thing Zuckerberg has in common with many other workers: he seems to like working from home. In an internal memo, which made its way to the Wall Street Journal , as Facebook announced plans to offer increased flexibility to employees, Zuckerberg explained that he would work remotely for at least half the year.

“Working remotely has given me more space for long-term thinking and helped me spend more time with my family, which has made me happier and more productive at work,” Zuckerberg wrote. He has also said that he expects about half of Facebook’s employees to be fully remote within the next decade.

The coronavirus pandemic continues to rage in many countries, and variants are complicating the picture, but in some parts of the world, including the United States, people are desperate for life to return to normal—everywhere but the office. After more than a year at home, some employees are keen to return to their workplaces and colleagues. Many others are less eager to do so, even quitting their jobs to avoid going back. Somewhere between their bedrooms and kitchens, they have established new models of work-life balance they are loath to give up.

This has left some companies trying to recreate their work policies, determining how best to handle a workforce that in many cases is demanding more flexibility. Some, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Spotify, are leaning into remote work. Others, such as JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, are reverting to the tried-and-true office environment, calling everyone back in. Goldman’s CEO David Solomon, in February, called working from home an “aberration that we’re going to correct as quickly as possible.” And JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said of exclusively remote work: “It doesn’t work for those who want to hustle. It doesn’t work for spontaneous idea generation. It doesn’t work for culture.”

This pivotal feature of pandemic life has accelerated a long-running debate: What do employers and employees lose and gain through remote work? In which setting—the office or the home—are employees more productive? Some research indicates that working from home can boost productivity and that companies offering more flexibility will be best positioned for success. But this giant, forced experiment has only just begun.

An accelerated debate

A persistent sticking point in this debate has been productivity. Back in 2001, a group of researchers from the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon, led by Robert E. Kraut , wrote that “collaboration at a distance remains substantially harder to accomplish than collaboration when members of a work group are collocated.” Two decades later, this statement remains part of today’s discussion.

However, well before Zoom, which came on the scene in 2011, or even Skype, which launched in 2003, the researchers acknowledged some of the potential benefits of remote work, allowing that “dependence on physical proximity imposes substantial costs as well, and may undercut successful collaboration.” For one, they noted, email, answering machines, and computer bulletin boards could help eliminate the inconvenience of organizing in-person meetings with multiple people at the same time.

Two decades later, remote-work technology is far more developed. Data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that, even in pre-pandemic 2019, more than 26 million Americans—approximately 16 percent of the total US workforce—worked remotely on an average day. The Pew Research Center put that pre-pandemic number at 20 percent, and in December 2020 reported that 71 percent of workers whose responsibilities allowed them to work from home were doing so all or most of the time.

The sentiment toward and effectiveness of remote work depend on the industry involved. It makes sense that executives working in and promoting social media are comfortable connecting with others online, while those in industries in which deals are typically closed with handshakes in a conference room, or over drinks at dinner, don’t necessarily feel the same. But data indicate that preferences and productivity are shaped by factors beyond a person’s line of work.

The productivity paradigm

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Stanford’s Nicholas Bloom was bullish on work-from-home trends. His 2015 study, for one—with James Liang , John Roberts , and Zhichun Jenny Ying , all then at Stanford—finds a 13 percent increase in productivity among remotely working call-center employees at a Chinese travel agency.

But in the early days of the pandemic, Bloom was less optimistic about remote work. “We are home working alongside our kids, in unsuitable spaces, with no choice and no in-office days,” Bloom told a Stanford publication in March 2020. “This will create a productivity disaster for firms.”

To test that thesis, Jose Maria Barrero of the Mexico Autonomous Institute of Technology, Bloom, and Chicago Booth’s Steven J. Davis launched a monthly survey of US workers in May 2020, tracking more than 30,000 workers aged 20–64 who earned at least $20,000 per year in 2019.

Companies that offer more flexibility in work arrangements may have the best chance of attracting top talent at the best price.

The survey measured the incidence of working from home as the pandemic continued, focusing on how a more permanent shift to remote work might affect not only productivity but also overall employee well-being. It also examined factors including how work from home would affect spending and revenues in major urban centers. In addition to the survey, the researchers drew on informal conversations with dozens of US business executives. They are publishing the results of the survey and related research at wfhresearch.com .

In an analysis of the data collected through March 2021, they find that nearly six out of 10 workers reported being more productive working from home than they expected to be, compared with 14 percent who said they got less done. On average, respondents’ productivity at home was 7 percent higher than they expected. Forty percent of workers reported they were more productive at home during the pandemic than they had been when in the office, and only 15 percent said the opposite was true. The researchers argue that the work-from-home trend is here to stay, and they calculate that these working arrangements will increase overall worker productivity in the US by 5 percent as compared with the pre-pandemic economy.

“Working from home under the pandemic has been far more productive than I or pretty much anyone else predicted,” Bloom says.

No commute, and fewer hours worked

Some workers arguing in favor of flexibility might say they’re more efficient at home away from chatty colleagues and the other distractions of an office, and that may be true. But above all, the increased productivity comes from saving transit time, an effect overlooked by standard productivity calculations. “Three-quarters or more of the productivity gains that we find are coming from a reduction in commuting time,” Davis says. Eliminate commuting as a factor, and the researchers project only a 1 percent productivity boost in the postpandemic work-from-home environment, as compared with before.

It makes sense that standard statistics miss the impact of commutes, Davis explains. Ordinarily, commuting time generally doesn’t shift significantly in the aggregate. But much like rare power outages in Manhattan have made it possible for New Yorkers to suddenly see the nighttime stars, the dramatic work-from-home shift that occurred during the pandemic made it possible to recognize the impact traveling to and from an office had on productivity.

Before the pandemic, US workers were commuting an average of 54 minutes daily, according to Barrero, Bloom, and Davis. In the aggregate, the researchers say, the pandemic-induced shift to remote work meant 62.5 million fewer commuting hours per workday.

People who worked from home spent an average of 35 percent of saved commuting time on their jobs, the researchers find. They devoted the rest to other activities, including household chores, childcare, leisure activities such as watching movies and TV, outdoor exercise, and even second jobs.

Infographic: People want working from home to stick after the pandemic subsides

With widespread lockdowns abruptly forcing businesses to halt nonessential, in-person activity, the COVID-19 pandemic drove a mass social experiment in working from home, according to Jose Maria Barrero of the Mexico Autonomous Institute of Technology, Stanford’s Nicholas Bloom , and Chicago Booth’s Steven J. Davis . The researchers launched a survey of US workers, starting in May 2020 and continuing in waves for more than a year since, to capture a range of information including workers’ attitudes about their new remote arrangements.

Remote-work technology goes mainstream

The widespread implementation of remote-working technology, a defining feature of the pandemic, is another important factor for productivity. This technology will boost work-from-home productivity by 46 percent by the end of the pandemic, relative to the pre-pandemic situation, according to a model developed by Rutgers’s Morris A. Davis , University of North Carolina’s Andra C. Ghent , and University of Wisconsin’s Jesse M. Gregory . “While many home-office technologies have been around for a while, the technologies become much more useful after widespread adoption,” the researchers note.

There are significant costs to leaving the office, Rutgers’s Davis says, pointing to the loss of face-to-face interaction, among other things. “Working at home is always less productive than working at the office. Always,” he said on a June episode of the Freakonomics podcast.

One reason, he says , has to do with the function of cities as business centers. “Cities exist because, we think, the crowding of employment makes everyone more productive,” he explains. “This idea also applies to firms: a firm puts all workers on the same floor of a building, or all in the same suite rather than spread throughout a building, for reasons of efficiency. It is easier to communicate and share ideas with office mates, which leads to more productive outcomes.” While some employees are more productive at home, that’s not the case overall, according to the model, which after calibration “implies that the average high-skill worker is less productive at home than at the office, even postpandemic,” he says.

How remote work could change city centers

What will happen to urban business districts and the cities in which they are located in the age of increasing remote work?

About three-quarters of Fortune 500 CEOs expect to need less office space in the future, according to a May 2021 poll. In Manhattan, the overall office vacancy rate was at a multidecade high of 16 percent in the first quarter of 2021, according to real-estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield.

And yet Davis, Ghent, and Gregory’s model projects that after the pandemic winds down, highly skilled, college-educated workers will spend 30 percent of their time working from home, as opposed to 10 percent in prior times. While physical proximity may be superior, working from home is far more productive than it used to be. Had the pandemic hit in 1990, it would not have produced this rise in relative productivity, per the researchers’ model, because the technology available at the time was not sufficient to support remote work.

A June article in the MIT Technology Review by Stanford’s Erik Brynjolfsson and MIT postdoctoral scholar Georgios Petropoulos corroborates this view. Citing the 5.4 percent increase in US labor productivity in the first quarter of 2021, as reported by the BLS, the researchers attribute at least some of this to the rise of work-from-home technologies. The pandemic, they write, has “compressed a decade’s worth of digital innovation in areas like remote work into less than a year.” The biggest productivity impact of the pandemic will be realized in the longer run, as the work-from-home trend continues, they argue.

Lost ideas, longer hours?

Not all the research supports the idea that remote work increases productivity and decreases the number of hours workers spend on the job. Chicago Booth’s Michael Gibbs and University of Essex’s Friederike Mengel and Christoph Siemroth find contradictory evidence from a study of 10,000 high-skilled workers at a large Asian IT-services company.

The researchers used personnel and analytics data from before and during the coronavirus work-from-home period. The company provided a rich data set for these 10,000 employees, who moved to 100 percent work from home in March 2020 and began returning to the office in late October.

Total hours worked during that time increased by approximately 30 percent, including an 18 percent rise in working beyond normal business hours, the researchers find. At the same time, however, average output—as measured by the company through setting work goals and tracking progress toward them—declined slightly. Time spent on coordination activities and meetings also increased, while uninterrupted work hours shrank. Additionally, employees spent less time networking and had fewer one-on-one meetings with their supervisors, find the researchers, adding that the increase in hours worked and the decline in productivity were more significant for employees with children at home. Weighing output against hours worked, the researchers conclude that productivity decreased by about 20 percent. They estimate that, even after accounting for the loss of commuting time, employees worked about a third of an hour per day more than they did at the office. “Of course, that time was spent in productive work instead of sitting in traffic, which is beneficial,” they acknowledge.

Regardless of what research establishes in the long run about productivity, many workers are already demanding flexibility in their schedules.

Overall, though, do workers with more flexibility work fewer hours (as Barrero, Bloom, and Davis find) or more (as at the Asian IT-services company)? It could take more data to answer this question. “I suspect that a high fraction of employees of all types, across the globe, value the flexibility, lack of a commute, and other aspects of work from home. This might bias survey respondents toward giving more positive answers to questions about their productivity,” says Gibbs.

The findings of his research do not entirely contradict those of Barrero, Bloom, and Davis, however. For one, Gibbs, Mengel, and Siemroth acknowledge that their study doesn’t necessarily reflect the remote-work model as it might look in postpandemic times, when employees are relieved of the weight of a massive global crisis. “While the average effect of working from home on productivity is negative in our study, this does not rule out that a ‘targeted working from home’ regime might be desirable,” they write.

Additionally, the research data are derived from a single company and may not be representative of the wider economy, although Gibbs notes that the IT company is one that should be able to optimize remote work. Most employees worked on company laptops, “and IT-related industries and occupations are usually at the top of lists of those areas most likely to be able to do WFH effectively.” Thus, he says, the findings may represent a cautionary note that remote work has costs and complexities worth addressing.

As he, Mengel, and Siemroth write, some predictions of work-from-home success may be overly optimistic, “perhaps because professionals engage in many tasks that require collaboration, communication, and innovation, which are more difficult to achieve with virtual, scheduled interactions.”

Attracting top talent

The focus on IT employees’ productivity, however, excludes issues such as worker morale and retention, Booth’s Davis notes. More generally, “the producer has to attract workers . . . and if workers really want to commute less, and they can save time on their end, and employers can figure out some way to accommodate that, they’re going to have more success with workers at a given wage cost.”

Companies that offer more flexibility in work arrangements may have the best chance of attracting top talent at the best price. The data from Barrero, Bloom, and Davis reveal that some workers are willing to take a sizable pay cut in exchange for the opportunity to work remotely two or three days a week. This may give threats from CEOs such as Morgan Stanley’s James Gorman—who said at the company’s US Financials, Payments & CRE conference in June, “If you want to get paid New York rates, you work in New York”—a bit less bite. Meanwhile, Duke PhD student John W. Barry , Cornell’s Murillo Campello , Duke’s John R. Graham , and Chicago Booth’s Yueran Ma find that companies offering flexibility are the ones most poised to grow.

Working policies may be shaped by employees’ preferences. Some workers still prefer working from the office; others prefer to stay working remotely; many would opt for a hybrid model, with some days in the office and some at home (as Amazon and other companies have introduced). As countries emerge from the pandemic and employers recalibrate, companies could bring back some employees and allow others to work from home. This should ultimately boost productivity, Booth’s Davis says.

Or they could allow some to work from far-flung locales. Harvard’s Prithwiraj Choudhury has long focused his research on working not just from home but “from anywhere.” This goes beyond the idea of employees working from their living room in the same city in which their company is located—instead, if they want to live across the country, or even in another country, they can do so without any concern about being near headquarters.

Does remote work promote equity?

At many companies, the future will involve remote work and more flexibility than before. That could be good for reducing the earnings gap between men and women—but only to a point.

“In my mind, there’s no question that it has to be a plus, on net,” says Harvard’s Claudia Goldin. Before the pandemic, many women deemphasized their careers when they started families, she says.

Research Choudhury conducted with Harvard PhD student Cirrus Foroughi and Northeastern University’s Barbara Larson analyzes a 2012 transition from a work-from-home to a work-from-anywhere model among patent examiners with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The researchers exploited a natural experiment and estimate that there was a 4.4 percent increase in work output when the examiners transitioned from a work-from-home regime to the work-from-anywhere regime.

“Work from anywhere offers workers geographic flexibility and can help workers relocate to their preferred locations,” Choudhury says. “Workers could gain additional utility by relocating to a cheaper location, moving closer to family, or mitigating frictions around immigration or dual careers.”

He notes as well the potential advantages for companies that allow workers to be located anywhere across the globe. “In addition to benefits to workers and organizations, WFA might also help reverse talent flows from smaller towns to larger cities and from emerging markets,” he says. “This might lead to a more equitable distribution of talent across geographies.”

More data to come

It is still early to draw strong conclusions about the impact of remote work on productivity. People who were sent home to work because of the COVID-19 pandemic may have been more motivated than before to prove they were essential, says Booth’s Ayelet Fishbach, a social psychologist. Additionally, there were fewer distractions from the outside because of the broad shutdowns. “The world helped them stay motivated,” she says, adding that looking at such an atypical year may not tell us as much about the future as performing the same experiment in a typical year would.

Before the pandemic, workers who already knew they performed better in a remote-working lifestyle self-selected into it, if allowed. During the pandemic, shutdowns forced remote work on millions. An experiment that allowed for random selection would likely be more telling. “The work-from-home experience seems to be more positive than what people believed, but we still don’t have great data,” Fishbach says.

Adding to the less optimistic view of a work-from-home future, Booth’s Austan D. Goolsbee says that some long-term trends may challenge remote work. Since the 1980s, as the largest companies have gained market power, corporate profits have risen dramatically while the share of profits going to workers has dropped to record lows. “This divergence between productivity and pay may very well come to pass regarding time,” he told graduating Booth students at their convocation ceremony. Companies may try to claw back time from those who are remote, he says, by expecting employees to work for longer hours or during their off hours.

And author and behavioral scientist Jon Levy argues in the Boston Globe that having some people in the office and others at home runs counter to smooth organizational processes. To this, Bloom offers a potential solution: instead of letting employees pick their own remote workdays, employers should ensure all workers take remote days together and come into the office on the same days. This, he says, could help alleviate the challenges of managing a hybrid team and level the playing field, whereas a looser model could potentially hurt employees who might be more likely to choose working from home (such as mothers with young children) while elevating those who might find it easier to come into the office every day (such as single men).

Gibbs concurs, noting that companies using a hybrid model will have to find ways to make sure employees who should interact will be on campus simultaneously. “Managers may specify that the entire team meets in person every Monday morning, for example,” he says. “R&D groups may need to make sure that researchers are on campus at the same time, to spur unplanned interactions that sometimes lead to new ideas and innovations.”

Sentiments vary by location, industry, and culture. Japanese workers are reportedly still mostly opting to go to the office, even as the government promotes remote work. Among European executives, a whopping 88 percent reportedly disagree with the idea that remote work is as or more productive than working at the office.

Regardless of what research establishes in the long run about productivity, many workers are already demanding flexibility in their schedules. While only about 28 percent of US office workers were back onsite by June 2021, employees who had become used to more flexibility were demanding it remain. A May survey of 1,000 workers by Morning Consult on behalf of Bloomberg News finds that about half of millennial and Gen Z workers, and two-fifths of all workers, would consider quitting if their employers weren’t flexible about work-from-home policies. And additional research from Barrero, Bloom, and Davis finds that four in 10 Americans who currently work from home at least one day a week would look for another job if their employers told them to come back to the office full time. Additionally, most employees would look favorably upon a new job that offered the same pay as their current job along with the option to work from home two to three days a week.

The shift to remote work affects a significant slice of the US workforce. A study by Chicago Booth’s Jonathan Dingel and Brent Neiman finds that while the majority of all jobs in the US require appearing in person, more than a third can potentially be performed entirely remotely. Of these jobs, the majority—including many in engineering, computing, law, and finance—pay more than those that cannot be done at home, such as food service, construction, and building-maintenance jobs.

Barrero, Bloom, and Davis project that, postpandemic, Americans overall will work approximately 20 percent of full workdays from home, four times the pre-pandemic level. This would make remote work less an aberration than a new norm. As the pandemic has demonstrated, many workers can be both productive and get dinner started between meetings.

Works Cited

Jose Maria Barrero, Nicholas Bloom, and Steven J. Davis, “Why Working from Home Will Stick,” Working paper, April 2021.
———, “60 Million Fewer Commuting Hours per Day: How Americans Use Time Saved by Working from Home,” Working paper, September 2020.
———, “Let Me Work From Home Or I Will Find Another Job,” Working paper, July 2021.
John W. Barry, Murillo Campello, John R. Graham, and Yueran Ma, “Corporate Flexibility in a Time of Crisis,” Working paper, February 2021.
Nicholas Bloom, James Liang, John Roberts, and Zhichun Jenny Ying, “Does Working from Home Work? Evidence from a Chinese Experiment,” Quarterly Journal of Economics , October 2015.
Prithwiraj Choudhury, Cirrus Foroughi, and Barbara Larson, “Work-from-Anywhere: The Productivity Effects of Geographic Flexibility,” Strategic Management Journal , forthcoming.
Morris A. Davis, Andra C. Ghent, and Jesse M. Gregory, “The Work-at-Home Technology Boon and Its Consequences,” Working paper, April 2021.
Jonathan Dingel and Brent Neiman, “How Many Jobs Can Be Done at Home?” White paper, June 2020.
Allison Dunatchik, Kathleen Gerson, Jennifer Glass, Jerry A. Jacobs, and Haley Stritzel, “Gender, Parenting, and the Rise of Remote Work during the Pandemic: Implications for Domestic Inequality in the United States,” Gender & Society , March 2021.
Michael Gibbs, Friederike Mengel, and Christoph Siemroth, “Work from Home & Productivity: Evidence from Personnel & Analytics Data on IT Professionals,” Working paper, May 2021.
Robert E. Kraut, Susan R. Fussell, Susan E. Brennan, and Jane Siegel, “Understanding Effects of Proximity on Collaboration: Implications for Technologies to Support Remote Collaborative Work,” in Distributed Work , eds. Pamela J. Hinds and Sara Kiesler, Cambridge: MIT Press, 2002.
Sabrina Wulff Pabilonia and Victoria Vernon, “Telework and Time Use in the United States,” Working paper, May 2020.

More from Chicago Booth Review

Why china’s pandemic stimulus worked better than the us’s.

Research finds China’s digital coupon programs were a cost-effective way to boost spending.

Why Are the Very Rich Getting Even Richer?

Three experts discuss the sources of income inequality.

CBR Podcast

What Can the 1930s Tell Us about the Coming Climate Migration?

Economic history hints at how migration induced by climate change might differ from that caused by other forces.

More from Chicago Booth

Your Privacy We want to demonstrate our commitment to your privacy. Please review Chicago Booth's privacy notice , which provides information explaining how and why we collect particular information when you visit our website.

Work From Home vs. Work From Office: Which Is Actually Better?

Are you wondering whether to work from home or from the office? Here's a guide to help you decide.

Lately, a lot of companies have started asking their workforce to return to the office after enjoying work from home (WFH) ever since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

But which is actually better for you as an employee? Let's compare working from home and working from an office and discuss the pros and cons of each.

The Pros of Work From Home

1. more flexibility and freedom.

Being able to work in your comfy pajamas at your own pace away from scrutinous managers is a benefit that's hard to quantify. In fact, more than half of our readers prefer work from home .

Working from home is especially useful for parents with young kids since it allows them to attend to their needs without necessarily having to take leaves, contributing to a better work-life balance and increased job satisfaction.

2. No More Commute to Work

In the US, the average one-way commute to work is a little under 30 minutes according to Zippia . That's roughly an hour of round-trip commute a day or 260 hours a year assuming you work five days a week.

The average hourly wage as of July 2023 is $33.74 according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics . So that's $8,772 you're losing each year in lost wages. Note that we haven't even accounted for costs like fuel, car maintenance, and depreciation yet!

3. It's Better for the Environment

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency , transportation accounted for 28% of all greenhouse gas emissions in 2021, making it the biggest contributor to climate change.

That means working from home is not just better for you, but also for the environment since you're reducing your carbon footprint by not driving your car to work, for example.

4. It Can Lower Your Expenses

Aside from not having to commute, you can also save money working from home by not having to spend on childcare, buying lunch at work, and updating your wardrobe every year.

Also, since rent is much higher in commercial areas than in residential areas, you can move to a cheaper place that's further away from your workplace without having to switch jobs.

The Cons of Work From Home

1. it's easier to procrastinate at home.

Although it's less stressful, working at home makes it easier to procrastinate since the working hours are not clearly defined, and you don't have a direct manager supervising you. For people who lack self-control and a good work ethic, working from home can invite laziness.

2. It Can Be More Distracting

In an office, everyone has a mutual understanding that work is the main objective. But at home, there are a number of things that can distract you like important errands, housework, loud neighbors, visitors, your kids, or even just doomscrolling social media .

3. It Can Get Lonely and Isolating

Water cooler chats at work may seem trivial, but they do admittedly fulfill your social needs. Working from home has the tendency to feel isolating after a while. After all, Zoom meetings are not a substitute for rich, in-person conversations.

4. It Can Subject You to Bias During Appraisals

If you're working from home, but your colleagues aren't, you might be perceived as less committed or loyal to the company. This in turn can subject you to bias during appraisals as those who worked in the office may be able to negotiate a higher pay raise .

The Pros of Work From Office

1. faster communication with your team.

A verbal discussion with a colleague sitting next to you about a presentation due next week, for example, is way faster than texting them on Slack and waiting for their reply.

Working in an office with your team also fosters creativity, problem-solving, and rapport-building since you can brainstorm together and bounce ideas off each other.

2. It Teaches You Hard and Soft Skills

If you're new to the industry, it's better to work in an office than to work at home. Why? Because learning new skills and getting hands-on experience are more important priorities to you for now, and those things are harder to come when working from home.

3. It Makes Planning Your Day Easier

Planning your day becomes easier when you have a fixed schedule. Sure, it's not very convenient, but once you're done with your working hours in the office, how you use the rest of your day is totally up to you. But when working from home, employees are often expected to be available well past their normal schedule.

4. It's Better for Career Growth

Working on-site can also prove to be better for your career growth since it grants you deeper industry exposure, builds your network, and helps advance to higher positions. When working from home, those opportunities are easier to miss.

The Cons of Work From Office

1. lack of privacy.

Micromanaging superiors and overly friendly colleagues can encroach on your personal space at work and make you unable to concentrate. Such is not the case at home, although remote workers do have to deal with employee surveillance software .

2. Encourages a Sedentary Lifestyle

One lesser-discussed con of working from an office is the extreme lack of mobility. Sure, you might have the comfiest chair in the world, but we don't need to remind you how unhealthy it can be to sit in one place for eight hours in a row almost every day.

3. More Stressful and Demanding

There's no sugarcoating it—some offices are terrible places to work. Unless you're someone who has high stress tolerance or works in a company with a rather laid-back culture, working from an office is usually much more stressful and can be anxiety-inducing, especially in certain industries and high-profile jobs.

4. You Can't Work at Your Own Pace

Some people are naturally more productive in the evening or at night, but if your workplace is like most others, you're expected to come to work every morning at the exact same time. This can be ineffective because you're not allowed—let alone encouraged—to work when you're at your peak energy level.

More People Prefer Working From Home

Study after study concludes the same thing: more people prefer working from home than on-site. It's becoming increasingly more common for job seekers today to look for remote work opportunities and prioritize flexibility alongside pay.

Of course, WFH isn't ideal for all industries, and not everyone prefers it. And if you're new to the industry, it definitely helps to get some hands-on experience and industry exposure first before you go hunting for remote work.

Working from home (Corrected Essay)

Some say that it would be better if the majority of employees worked from home instead of traveling to a workplace every day. Do you think the advantages of working from home outweigh the disadvantages?

Office has no longer been the only work place since many people are considering working from home. Some may argue the majority of employees should change their work place from office to home. In my opinion, the benefits of working from home can surely surpass the drawbacks due to the following reasons:

The first sentence is not accurate. It implies that people did not work from home in the past; however, throughout history, many people did work from home, for example, the classical novelists and artists.

“ Can surely ” is an informal expression and does not contribute anything to the preciseness of your writing.

The correct verb to follow the word “benefit” is not “ to surpass ”, but rather “ to offset ”, “ to outweigh ”, or “ to exceed ”.

Do not end your sentence with a colon ( “:” ), unless you want to provide a list of items immediately after that.

Working from home is a lot more comfortable for lots of people. Employees can save a great deal of time and money since they do not have to travel so often, which means people will have more time for work and for themselves, too. Less travelling will also help reduce traffice traffic jam congestion and pollutants to our environment environmental pollution . Besides, working at home does not mean staying inside all day long, people can choose to work in their garden or backyard, wherever makes them feel convenient to work. Moreover, employees are under less stresses stress since they get to decide when to work and when to take rest with a flexible working schedule . These things will help giving out better perfomance to tasks.

Words like “comfortable”, or “convenient” are too generic to use in an IELTS writing context. Generally, it’s better to use other words.

Lengthy phrases like “a great deal of time and money” (7 words) are considered as informal and ambiguous. Try to use shorter expressions, for example “time-saving and cost-efficient” (3 words only).

In a formal context, “ traffic congestion ” is more preferrable than “ traffic jam ”. When being alone, the word “ jam ” can be understood as a type of food. It’s always better to use a word that only has one meaning, regardless of the context.

The third sentence in this body paragraph is an example of poor cohesion. “ Traffic jam ” is not parallel to “ pollutants to our environment ”. “ Traffic jam ” is a condition (abstract), not a physical material (touchable by human) like “ pollutants ”. Therefore, you need to use another condition that is parallel to “ traffic jam ” (“ environmental pollution ”)

The fourth sentence (“ Besides, working at… ”) should be placed in the second body paragraph. The author is tailoring his ideas by providing the advantages of working from home in the first body paragraph, then listing the disadvantages in the second body paragraph while attacking those disadvantages notion at the same time. This kind of idea (“ to play the devil’s advocate ”) is good, but the execution isn’t. Insufficient coherence like this will hamper your score in Coherence & Cohesion criterion.

“Stress” as in “psychological stress” is an uncountable noun.

Try to improve the conciseness of your essay by rewritting a sentence clause (S+V) into a noun phrase. For example, “ since they get to decide when to work and when to take rest ” can be shorten into “ with a flexible working schedule ”.

The last sentence is redundant and ungrammatical.

To be fair, There are still some disadvantages that home-working could bring of teleworking . For instance, working from personal space will reduce direct face-to-face interactions among colleagues. But However, the problem is solved thanks to the Internet. As for now, people from around the globe can easily contact and work with others from distances. Another drawback is that some people may get distracted from work by external factors. This situation requires employees to be highly awared awarded of what they should and should not do for their paid jobs.

The accurate way to describe the act of working from home is not “ home-working ”, but rather “ teleworking ” or “ telecommuting ”. The author has miss his chance to improve the Lexical Resource score.

Generally, in a writing context, do not start your sentence with a short subordinate conjuction (“ and ”, “ or ”, “ but ”, “ for ”).

The third sentence in this paragraph is very unclear, especially when the followed sentence does not provide a good explanation. The author has to elaborate more on the Internet’s merits (social softwares such as “ instant messaging ”, “ collaborative software ”, etc)

The author has failed to provide a counter-argument for the notion of “ people may get distracted from work by external factors ”. Not to mentions he does not elaborate what is the “ external factors ”. Again, weak cohesion.

Do not simply stating “ this ” as a sentence subject. This type of grammatical mistake is called “unclear antecedent”, or “unclear aphoric noun”, and should be avoid by extending the subject with a word like “ condition ”, “ situation ”, “ issue ”, etc.

In conclusion, working from home should be encouraged because the advantages overcome the disadvantages.

The conclusion is coherent with the introduction and the two body paragraphs. Though, it is a little bit too short.

(Words: 261)

Overall: 6.0

Task Response: 6

✓ addresses all parts of the task although some parts may be more fully covered than others (the author has written more than 250 words and addressed the topic question)

✓ presents a relevant position although the conclusions may become unclear or repetitive

✓ presents relevant main ideas but some may be inadequately developed/unclear

Coherence and Cohesion: 6

✓ arranges information and ideas coherently and there is a clear overall progression (the ideas in each paragraphs are coherent with eachother)

✓ uses cohesive devices effectively, but cohesion within and/or between sentences may be faulty or mechanical

✓ may not always use referencing clearly or appropriately (the author usually fails at providing good supporting evidence for his argument)

✓ uses paragraphing, but not always logically (the fourth sentence in Body Paragraph 1 should be placed in Body 2 instead)

Lexical Resource: 5

✓ uses a limited range of vocabulary, but this is minimally adequate for the task (all the vocab used in this essay are very generic) ✓ may make noticeable errors in spelling and/or word formation that may cause some difficulty for the reader

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: 6

✓ uses a mix of simple and complex sentence forms

✓ makes some errors in grammar and punctuation but they rarely reduce communication

----------------------------------------------------------

This essay is corrected by Anh Tran - Let's Write Something Group .

Share with friends

Scan below qr code to share with your friends, related ielts tips.

Extra classes for children after school

Many parents today organise extra classes for their children after school...

The government should pay the costs of running universities

Some people feel that the government should pay the costs of running universities...

Should Gay Marriage Be Legal?

Topic: The issue of gay marriage remains controversial. Some people think...

Some organisations believe that their employees should dress smartly

Some organisations believe that their employees should dress smartly. Others...

Some say that it would be better if the majority of employees worked from...

Thank you for contacting us!

We have received your message.

We will get back within 48 hours.

You have subscribed successfully.

Thank you for your feedback, we will investigate and resolve the issue within 48 hours.

Your answers has been saved successfully.

Add Credits

You do not have enough iot credits.

Your account does not have enough IOT Credits to complete the order. Please purchase IOT Credits to continue.

Programming Full-Stack Programming Front-End Programming Back-End Programming
DevOps and Sysadmin
Management and Finance
Customer Support
Sales and Marketing
Advanced Job Search New!
Top Trending Remote Jobs New!
Top Remote Job Searches
FAQ - Job Seekers
Top 100 Remote Companies
Remote Work Resources
Create Account New!
Remote Work Trends
Remote Hiring Guide
Hiring Remote Software Developers
Why Choose WWR?
Bundle Pricing
FAQ - Employers

Differences Between Working From Home and the Office

Leveraging the Differences between Working from Home and the Office for Max Career Wins

Asynchronous Communication Examples, Tools, & Workflows
Working Remotely Across Different Time Zones: Best Practices and Tools

Learn how to set healthy boundaries at work remotely
Set a clear start and end time for your workdays (and stick to it!)
Stop taking breaks the wrong way
Let your team know when you’re off the clock
Silence and never answer work messages during your off-time (unless it’s an emergency)
Take time off from work without feeling guilty

So Which is Better, Work From Home or Work from the Office?

The bright future of working from home

There seems to be an endless tide of depressing news in this era of COVID-19. But one silver lining is the long-run explosion of working from home. Since March I have been talking to dozens of CEOs, senior managers, policymakers and journalists about the future of working from home. This has built on my own personal experience from running surveys about working from home and an experiment published in 2015 which saw a 13 percent increase in productivity by employees at a Chinese travel company called Ctrip who worked from home.

So here a few key themes that can hopefully make for some good news:

Mass working from home is here to stay

Once the COVID-19 pandemic passes, rates of people working from home will explode. In 2018, the Bureau of Labor Statistics figures show that 8 percent of all employees worked from home at least one day a week.

I see these numbers more than doubling in a post-pandemic world. I suspect almost all employees who can work from home — which is estimated at about 40 percent of employees — will be allowed to work from home at least one day a week.

Why? Consider these three reasons

Fear of crowds.

Even if COVID-19 passes, the fear of future pandemics will motivate people to move away from urban centers and avoid public transport. So firms will struggle to get their employees back to the office on a daily basis. With the pandemic, working from home has become a standard perk, like sick-leave or health insurance.

Investments in telecommuting technology

By now, we have plenty of experience working from home. We’ve become adept at video conferencing. We’ve fine-tuned our home offices and rescheduled our days. Similarly, offices have tried out, improved and refined life for home-based work forces. In short, we have all paid the startup cost for learning how to work from home, making it far easier to continue.

The end of stigma

Finally, the stigma of working from home has evaporated. Before COVID-19, I frequently heard comments like, “working from home is shirking from home,” or “working remotely is remotely working.” I remember Boris Johnson, who was Mayor of London in 2012 when the London Olympics closed the city down for three weeks, saying working from home was “a skivers paradise.” No longer. All of us have now tried this and we understand we can potentially work effectively — if you have your own room and no kids — at home.

Of course, working from home was already trending up due to improved technology and remote monitoring. It is relatively cheap and easy to buy a top-end laptop and connect it to broadband internet service. This technology also makes it easier to monitor employees at home. Indeed, one senior manager recently told me: “We already track our employees — we know how many emails they send, meetings they attend or documents they write using our office management system. So monitoring them at home is really no different from monitoring them in the office. I see how they are doing and what they are doing whether they are at home or in the office.”

This is not only good news for firms in terms of boosting employee morale while improving productivity, but can also free up significant office space. In our China experiment, Ctrip calculated it increased profits by $2,000 per employee who worked from home.

Best practices in working from home post pandemic

Many of us are currently working from home full-time, with kids in the house, often in shared rooms, bedrooms or even bathrooms. So if working from home is going to continue and even increase once the pandemic is over, there are a few lessons we’ve learned to make telecommuting more effective. Let’s take a look:

Working from home should be part-time

I think the ideal schedule is Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the office and Tuesday and Thursday at home. Most of us need time in the office to stay motivated and creative. Face-to-face meetings are important for spurring and developing new ideas, and at least personally I find it hard to stay focused day after day at home. But we also need peaceful time at home to concentrate, undertake longer-term thinking and often to catch-up on tedious paperwork. And spending the same regular three days in the office each week means we can schedule meetings, lunches, coffees, etc., around that, and plan our “concentration work” during our two days at home.

The choice of Tuesday and Thursday at home comes from talking to managers who are often fearful that a work-from-home day — particularly if attached to a weekend — will turn into a beach day. So Tuesday and Thursday at home avoids creating a big block of days that the boss and the boss of the boss may fear employees may use for unauthorized mini-breaks.

Working from home should be a choice

I found in the Ctrip experiment that many people did not want to work from home. Of the 1,000 employees we asked, only 50 percent volunteered to work from home four days a week for a nine-month stretch. Those who took the offer were typically older married employees with kids. For many younger workers, the office is a core part of their social life, and like the Chinese employees, would happily commute in and out of work each day to see their colleagues. Indeed, surveys in the U.S. suggest up to one-third of us meet our future spouses at work.

Working from home should be flexible

After the end of the 9-month Ctrip experiment, we asked all volunteers if they wanted to continue working from home. Surprisingly, 50 percent of them opted to return to the office. The saying is “the three great enemies of working from home are the fridge, the bed and the TV,” and many of them fell victim to one of them. They told us it was hard to predict in advance, but after a couple of months working from home they figured out if it worked for them or not. And after we let the less-successful home-based employees return to the office, those remaining had a 25 percent higher rate of productivity.

Working from home is a privilege

Working from home for employees should be a perk. In our Ctrip experiment, home-based workers increased their productivity by 13 percent. So on average were being highly productive. But there is always the fear that one or two employees may abuse the system. So those whose performance drops at home should be warned, and if necessary recalled into the office for a couple of months before they are given a second chance.

There are two other impacts of working from home that should be addressed

The first deals with the decline in prices for urban commercial and residential spaces. The impact of a massive roll-out in working from home is likely to be falling demand for both housing and office space in the center of cities like New York and San Francisco. Ever since the 1980s, the centers of large U.S. cities have become denser and more expensive. Younger graduate workers in particular have flocked to city centers and pushed up housing and office prices. This 40-year year bull run has ended .

If prices fell back to their levels in say the 1990s or 2000s this would lead to massive drops of 50 percent or more in city-center apartment and office prices. In reverse, the suburbs may be staging a comeback. If COVID-19 pushed people to part-time working from home and part-time commuting by car, the suburbs are the natural place to locate these smaller drivable offices. The upside to this is the affordability crisis of apartments in city centers could be coming to an end as property prices drop.

The second impact I see is a risk of increased political polarization. In the 1950s, Americans all watched the same media, often lived in similar areas and attended similar schools. By the 2020s, media has become fragmented, residential segregation by income has increased dramatically , and even our schools are starting to fragment with the rise of charter schools.

The one constant equalizer — until recently — was the workplace. We all have to come into work and talk to our colleagues. Hence, those on the extreme left or right are forced to confront others over lunch and in breaks, hopefully moderating their views. If we end up increasing our time at home — particularly during the COVID lock-down — I worry about an explosion of radical political views.

But with an understanding of these risks and some forethought for how to mitigate them, a future with more of us working from home can certainly work well.

Benefits of Working From Home

Pro: more flexibility to take care of appointments and errands. .

Pro: Fewer interruptions from meetings and chitchat.
Pro: No commute time or expense.
Pro: More time spent with family.

Pro: You can often do your work when you're most productive.

Pro: you can get more done., pro: you can save money on your work wardrobe., pro: the ability to live where you want to..

One of the hardest things about committing to a 9-to-5 desk job is that it prevents you from being able to handle almost anything else that comes up in your life, whether attending a routine dentist appointment or picking a sick kid up from school. When you work from home, while you still have to meet your deadlines and be available when you say you will be, you generally have wider bandwidth to tend to other responsibilities without jeopardizing your job.

Pro: There are fewer interruptions from meetings and chitchat.

It's easier to get into a deep state of focused work when you're in your home office without colleagues dropping by and sitting down impromptu to talk about their weekends. Limiting unnecessary interruptions from your colleagues and boss is a big plus of working from home and is one reason many remote workers are often more productive than office-based workers. While you may need to dial in for specific meetings, you'll likely get a break from attending several others – many of which may be unnecessary to your role – that confront staff workers daily.

Pro: There is no commute time or expense.

You can save a lot of money and avoid wasting hours spent getting to and from work when your office is right down the hall. Avoiding traffic battles tops the list of benefits for some of those who work from home. Many remote workers also mentioned saving money by eschewing a pricey professional wardrobe unless they meet with clients.

Pro: More time spent with family.

Office workers must kiss their loved ones goodbye each morning when heading off to work; not so for virtual workers, who can work side by side with a work-from-home spouse or with kids who are learning in a digital classroom . By doing away with the commute time, there is more time to be spent with loved ones.

When you work in an office, your schedule is rarely your own. Between the aforementioned interruptions from colleagues and meetings, plus your boss hovering nearby with agenda items and to-dos, accomplishing your focus work may be a "catch as catch can" situation, grabbing time to think and compose important reports and communications between events that others have imposed.

It's still always essential when working from home to be mindful of your team's needs and be available to dial in for virtual meetings. But remote employees generally have greater latitude to select their time of peak productivity to do their most important work and – depending on who else is working at home with them – have more quiet time to hone in on tasks that require concentration.

A number of recent studies have confirmed the growing body of research that prove working from home can help you be more productive than you can in an office, with stats showing productivity increases of up to 77%. It makes sense when you consider the above points that you have fewer interruptions and can work when you’re at your best while working remotely.

In addition to saving drive time and gas expenses, the work-from-home crowd can generally save on clothing costs as well. While you may need to have professional garb at the ready for video calls (at least for your top half on camera), most who work from home have more freedom to wear what they want while they work.

While some employers have restrictions about where you can live as a remote employee and may change your pay according to the area you reside in, a huge perk of the remote life is the ability to choose your location without needing to worry about a daily commute. Even if you’re in a hybrid role or need to make occasional visits to the office for meetings, if you don’t need to drive in each day, you have a wider range of possible places to settle besides right near the office.

Cons of Working From Home

Con: no physical separation between work and leisure time. .

Con: Easy to misread cues via electronic communications.

Con: You have to make the effort to get a change of scenery.

Con: Less in-person contact with co-workers.

Con: You are not on-site for in-office perks.

Con: you have to be more self-motivated., con: some bosses may be biased against those who aren’t in the office..

Many who work from home lamented that they often find themselves working around the clock, since their labor has no definite start or end times; those lines can often be blurred. As a result, they sometimes feel as if they are always at work, making it difficult to shift to the post-work relaxation mode that many office workers take for granted.

The absence of an obvious division between the personal and professional realms means some remote workers get distracted by housework. Setting boundaries and sticking to them is important when you're working from home.

Con: It's easy to misread cues via electronic communications.

While few who work from home expressed feeling "lonely," as is typically assumed, many did point to the difficulty of getting the tone right through digital communication systems, such as email, chat, social media and text. Without body language, facial expressions and other cues, remote employees have to put in extra effort to maintain positive communications.

What can be a blessing can also become a curse in the form of cabin fever. Some freelancers and others who work from home lamented that where they work during the day is the exact same place where they'll be sitting later that evening; getting involved in their work often translates to spending a huge portion of the day indoors. Pre-pandemic, many stressed the importance of scheduling lunches and other meetings to keep them in the mix and avoid the rut of never leaving the house.

Con: There is less in-person contact with co-workers.

While you may have more time with loved ones when working from a home office, the flipside is less opportunity for face time (minus a screen) with people at your company. If your co-workers drive you crazy, then reduced time on-site might be a perk for you. But if you enjoy office-based camaraderie and like to be able to socialize with your team in person, then the remote life might make you miserable.

You can't swing by the break room and grab a doughnut or hit the company gym if you're working from home. This may be more of a disadvantage for workers in industries such as tech, with impressive on-site offerings like game rooms and chef-made food among their company benefits. If there's a perk you like about being in the office, then working from home may make you miss it.

If you’re the type of person who procrastinates working unless a boss is breathing down your neck, then you might find yourself underperforming in a work-from-home role. Remote workers have to motivate themselves to get the job done, which puts more onus on people working from home to manage their time wisely to complete their projects, instead of having someone else setting the timelines and spurring them along.

A study by researchers at the University of California at Davis and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that “face time” – the amount of time that you’re seen at work either within normal business hours or outside of them – can affect how your boss and others perceive you at work. If you’re not in the office and others are, some managers may be either intentionally or unintentionally biased against you. You may find that your contributions aren’t noticed or appreciated as much by your team and may feel compelled to make extra efforts to keep on everyone’s radar screen.

Weighing the pros and cons of working from home has become even more important in the wake of the pandemic, since many companies are now giving their employees the option to not come back into the office. If you are given the choice to consider working from home permanently, be sure to think through each of the pros and cons of working from home to land on a solution that matches your priorities. Remote work has clear benefits, but no situation is perfect. Understanding the reasons to work from home – as well as the reasons not to – can go a long way in learning how to work from home successfully .

Most Stressful Jobs

Tags: careers , work-life balance , Company Culture , money , personal finance

About On Careers

Our expert contributors give their best advice on answering common interview questions, perfecting job applications, negotiating salary and more.

Find savvy job advice from the brains behind top careers blogs and websites, including Robin Madell, Robin Reshwan and Hallie Crawford.

Red Flags to Leave Off Your Resume

Robin Reshwan April 25, 2024

Is Capital Goods a Good Career Path?

Jamela Adam April 25, 2024

Will AI Steal My Job?

Robin Madell April 23, 2024

Is Consumer Services a Good Career Path?

Jamela Adam April 18, 2024

13 Signs You May Be Facing a Tech Layoff

Jamela Adam and Janica Ingram April 11, 2024

Why You Feel Disengaged at Work

Robin Madell April 8, 2024

9 Sites for Legit Remote Jobs

Robin Madell April 3, 2024

7 Best Technology Jobs in the U.S.

Jamela Adam March 26, 2024

What Are Soft Skills?

Hallie Crawford March 25, 2024

11 Best High-Paying Business Jobs

Jamela Adam March 21, 2024

8 Best Finance Jobs to Pursue

Jamela Adam March 19, 2024

14 High-Paying, No-Degree Jobs

Jamela Adam March 14, 2024

The 15 Best Jobs That Help People

Jamela Adam March 12, 2024

25 Jobs That Pay $80K or More

Jamela Adam March 7, 2024

16 Best Jobs for High School Graduates

Jamela Adam Feb. 29, 2024

15 Best Jobs You've Never Heard Of

Jamela Adam Feb. 27, 2024

What Is the 'Act Your Wage?'

Robin Madell Feb. 23, 2024

20 Best Jobs for Work-Life Balance

Jamela Adam Feb. 22, 2024

15 Jobs to Consider for a Career Change

Jamela Adam Feb. 14, 2024

Build It → Small Business

Working from Home vs. Working from the Office

February 28, 2022

Laptop showing people in an online meeting

Working from home vs. office statistics

What are the benefits of working from home vs. being in the office, what are the costs of working from home vs. in an office, can you be productive working from home, work-from-home: the way of the future, subscribe to greenlight by thimble..

Join a community of 50,000+ small business owners and get insights and inspo every other week

Customers order meals from a popular food truck during their lunch hour, at

Not all that long ago, many office-bound workers dreamt of what it would be like to work from home, fantasizing about eliminating the daily commute, the flexibility of a work-from-home schedule, not to mention the thrill of taking a call in your pajama pants. Just imagine!

And then 2020 hit, and with it came the COVID-19 pandemic. Seemingly overnight, about 71% of workers switched to a work-from-home lifestyle. Before the Coronavirus outbreak, only about 20% of people worked from home, so this marked a significant increase in telecommuting. 1

Now, COVID-19 restrictions are easing around the country, and small business owners are wrestling with how — and whether — to return to the office.

In this post, we’ll take a look at the work from home vs. work from office dilemma, as well as the benefits and drawbacks of each approach for employees.

COVID changed many things about daily life, including the way millions of people in the U.S. worked.Here are a few working from home vs. office statistics to know if you’re considering a change in your work location:

Before 2020

62% of workers rarely or never worked from home before the COVID-19 outbreak. 2
Only one in five workers say they worked from home all or most of the time before COVID, while 18% reported working from home some of the time.
By April of 2020, A Gallup poll found that 70% of US workers were already working remotely. By September of the same year, the number had fallen to 58%. By January of 2021, 56% of workers reported working at home “always” or “some of the time.” 3
Demographics with higher levels of education and income were the most likely to report working from home all of the time during the COVID-19 pandemic.
About 60% of workers with bachelor’s degrees or higher levels of education could perform their jobs from home, compared to 51% of workers with less education.
18% of adults who are still teleworking don’t have a workplace outside the home. About 50% of this group is self-employed.

Of the workers who switched to a work-from-home model during the pandemic, about 54% say they’d like to continue working from home all or most of the time, even after their workplaces reopen.

When it comes to the work-from-home lifestyle, people tend to be fairly polarized on the topic: some love it, and some can’t wait to get back into a brick-and-mortar office.

Still, working from home does present some serious benefits for both companies and employees.

Most notably, working from home allows people to eliminate time and money spent on daily commutes. As a result, many workers report being better-rested and able to devote more time to their daily work.

Additionally, working from home tends to increase productivity and focus. In fact, people working from home spend 12% less time attending meetings and 9% more time communicating directly with external partners, customers, and other stakeholders important to their company’s success. 4

Finally, there’s the issue of flexibility. People working from home generally have much more flexible schedules than people working in offices. This means that they can achieve a better work-life balance, spend more time with children and family members, and make space for other important things during the day.

For companies, allowing people to work from home provides many benefits. These include increased employee loyalty and retention, lower overhead costs (less need for office space, etc.), and access to a much larger talent pool since hiring doesn’t need to be local.

In addition to improving time management, focus, and work-life balance for employees, working from home is also less expensive than being in a traditional office. Here are a few of the overhead costs working from home can help save both companies and employees:

Renting or leasing an office or coworking space
Gas, tolls, fees, and other expenses associated with commuting
Daily meals out
Professional wardrobes

While these things seem simple, they can add up. One study found that companies that allowed employees to work from home even 50% of the time would save an average of $11,000 per employee each year. The same study also found that each work-from-home employee would save between $2,000 and $7,000 annually. 5

That’s not to suggest that working from home does not have some downsides for small business owners. Some people find it difficult to adjust to a remote workforce, while others dislike working with project management software or find it difficult to track workflow in a remote workforce environment. Still others simply miss the camaraderie and collaboration of an in-office setting. Water cooler chat, anyone?

Even before COVID-19 inspired a widespread obsession with customized Zoom backgrounds, work-from-home productivity was a hot topic for companies throughout the country.

Could workers stay on task if they weren’t in the office? Was it possible that working from home could actually make them more productive?

The resounding answer seems to be, yes. Here are a few stats to back it up:

Nearly one in four virtual work-from-home workers are willing to work longer hours than they would in an office.
80% of work-from-home employees experience less work-related stress, allowing them to focus more on the tasks at hand.
77% of virtual workers report being more productive — even when sick. 6
Working from home leads to a 13% increase in performance. 7
Remote work results in 50% lower attrition.
Employees who have the option of working from home at least one time each month are 24% more likely to feel happy in their roles.

While the work from home vs. work from office model is a new concept to many US companies, allowing employees to telecommute may be one of the most effective ways to encourage productivity and focus at each level of an organization.

Even as U.S. workplaces open their doors once more, many employees are reluctant to give up the perks of a work-from-home arrangement.

If you’re a small business owner finding that your team is struggling to adapt to reopening, now is a great time to communicate with your team and find a remote or hybrid arrangement that works for everyone involved.

If you’re a freelancer , working from home is probably the norm, and it will only become more commonplace in the future. With that in mind, make sure you’re protecting your vocation with the right business insurance and, yes, go right ahead and keep on responding to those emails while sporting your favorite sweatpants.

Pew Research Center. How the Coronavirus Outbreak Has—and Hasn’t—Changed the Way Americans Work.
Pew Research Center. How the Coronavirus Outbreak Has – and Hasn’t – Changed the Way Americans Work.
Gallup. Majority of U.S. Workers Continue to Punch In Virtually.
HBR. Research: Knowledge Workers Are More Productive from Home.
Global Workplace Analytics. Latest Work-At-Home/Telecommuting/Mobile Work/Remote Work Statistics.
SHRM. Study: Teleworkers More Productive—Even When Sick.
Email Analytics. 15 Working From Home Productivity Statistics.

Terri Hitchcock, JD Chief Insurance Officer, Thimble

Terri has 38 years of industry experience and knows a thing or two about insurance, so she reviewed and approved everything on this page.

Written on August 26, 2021 | Last updated: February 28, 2022

Our editorial content is intended for informational purposes only and is not written by a licensed insurance agent. Terms and conditions for rate and coverage may vary by class of business and state.

Get Greenlight in your inbox.

It's not every other newsletter. It's every other week, four minutes long, and just for small businesses.

Quick-thinking insurance for fast-moving businesses.

Backed by A-rated Insurance i

Best Insurance for the Smallest Businesses

Accredited Business

What do you do?

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Publications
Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

Advanced Search
Journal List
Wiley - PMC COVID-19 Collection

Working from home vs working from office in terms of job performance during the COVID‐19 pandemic crisis: evidence from China

Jingjing qu.

1 Shanghai AI Lab, China

2 School of Business and Administration, Northeastern University, Shenyang China

Despite being a worldwide disaster, the COVID‐19 pandemic has also provided an opportunity for renewed discussion about the way we work. By contextualizing in the early periods of China's ending of lockdown policy on COVID‐19, this paper offers evidence to respond to an essential discussion in the field of working from home (WFH): In terms of job performance, can WFH replace working from the office (WFO)? The present study compares job performance in terms of quality and productivity between WFH and WFO from 861 Chinese respondents using entropy balance matching, a quasi‐experimental methodology. Results reveal that WFH enhances job performance in terms of job quality but lowers it in terms of job productivity. In addition, the present study aims to capture and empirically measure the variations in fundamental job characteristics in terms of job control and job demand between WFH and WFO by applying the job demand control support model. More specifically, we find that job control items, such as ‘talking right’ and ‘work rate’, and job demand items, such as ‘a long time of intense concentration’ and ‘hecticness of the job’, are vital factors that contribute to how these differences exert influence on employees' performance in the context of the pandemic.

WFH is positively related to job quality but negatively related to job productivity.
WFH affects job performance via job demand and job control.
Social support contributes to job productivity when working from home.

Introduction

The outbreak of the COVID‐19 pandemic boosted an unprecedentedly massive and rapid shift of people's work routines (Bartram and Cooke 2022 ; Yan et al. 2021 ). To a large extent, millions of employees around the world have been forced to resort to remote work (Bouziri et al. 2020 ; Hurley and Popescu 2021 ; Rogers 2021 ; Woods and Miklencicova 2021 ), which leads to the most significant social experiment of ‘working from home (WFH)’ emerging in human history (Zhang, Yu and Marin 2021 ). According to a report in LinkedIn, as Asia‐Pacific responded to the crisis, organizations in China, Australia, India and Singapore, quickly adapted to support a remote workforce. WFH differs considerably from working from office (WFO) in terms of job attributes and work environment. WFO is characterized by a relatively high degree of formalization and a fixed working routine, including place, time, and task arrangements (Palumbo 2020 ). Information and communications technology (ICT) was widely adopted with regard to work and organizational management (Balica 2019 ; Kassick 2019 ; Nemțeanu, Dabija and Stanca 2021 ; Olsen 2019 ). WFH is characterized by the freedom from constraints associated with working in a formal and fixed workplace due to progress in ICT (Nakrošienė, Bučiūnienė and Goštautaitė 2019 ).

Long before the COVID‐19 pandemic, WFH had already been suggested as a modern human resource policy for organizations, and it has resulted in a definite trend firmly entrenched in society (Illegems, Verbeke and S’Jegers 2001 ; Stanek and Mokhtarian 1998 ). It enables employees to be more productive by avoiding long commutes, skirting office politics, having fewer office distractions, and giving more chance to develop a better work–life balance (Hopkins and McKay 2019 ; Nakrošienė, Bučiūnienė and Goštautaitė 2019 ). Simultaneously, a stream of scholars have argued that WFH is not an alternative working routine and may even lead to poor employee performance (Fonner and Roloff 2010 ). Thus, a key question in the field has been raised: Can WFH replace WFO? Around this question, the debate has become fierce alongside the development of ICT and globalization. Nevertheless, past research has not yet reached a consensus, which constitutes a significant gap in the current knowledge.

Thus, drawing on the above research gaps, the present research is designed as a comparison study contextualized in the ongoing COVID‐19 pandemic. On the basis of the job demand–control–support (JDCS) model, a well‐documented theory that elucidates the effects of fundamental job characteristics (Johnson and Hall 1988 ), and combined with entropy balance matching (Watson and Elliot 2016 ), the present study investigates the difference between WFH group and other working cohorts in terms of job characteristics and its effects on job performance. More specifically, based on the JDCS model, we propose the mediation effect of job demand and job control and the moderation effect of employers' anti‐epidemic policy as the social support on the relationship between job demand/job control and employee job performance.

The contributions of this study are as follows. First, we shed new light on the mixed effects of WFH on job performance. We find that WFH can increase job quality but reduce job productivity. Second, underpinned by the JDCS framework, the present paper empirically tests the differences of job characteristics between WFH and other working routines regarding job demand, job control and social supports, and its direct and indirect effects on employees' satisfaction on performance. In this case, the present paper extends the JDCS model from the field of classical work routine to understand WFH. Furthermore, we employ the entropy balancing method to alleviate the methodological concerns with selection bias in the previous literature. Doing so allows for examining the causal effect of WFH on job characteristics and job performance to support the random hypothesis in comparison quasi‐experiment research.

The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. The next section presents the literature review, followed by a discussion of the hypothesis development. Further sections present the methods and results, respectively. The final section presents a discussion and implications, followed by future scope and conclusion.

Literature review

WFH is a working arrangement in which employees fulfill the essential responsibilities that their job entails while remaining at home using ICT (International Labor Organization 2020 , 5). Although a slight difference exists among terms such as WFH, teleworking, telecommuting and remote working, these concepts are largely interchangeable. WFH is considered home‐based teleworking, because teleworking may include various locations away from the primary worksite or the employers' premises (such as mobile working). Telecommuting refers to substituting telecommunications for commuter travel. Some differences exist between the terms teleworking and telecommuting, mainly because teleworking is broader and may not always be a substitute for commuting, but they are relatively minor. The basic difference between telework and remote work is that a teleworker uses personal electronic devices in addition to working physically remotely from a place other than an office or company premises, whereas remote work does not require visits to the main workplace or the use of electronic personal devices; and compared with WFH, remote work has the flexibility to work anywhere rather than being limited to the home. In addition, WFH may imply a long‐term contract, and individuals may have an emotional relationship with the organization; however, in remote work, this is not easy to achieve (Tønnessena, Dhira and Flåten 2021 ).

This paper aims to illustrate whether WFH can replace the classical working routine. A comparison study between WFH and other working routines seems to be a promising way to solve this question. However, we should consider two significant challenges of conducting a comparison study on WFH and other working routines. First, a ubiquitous theoretical framework is critical for providing solid support to capture fundamental job characteristics of diverse working routines. Only by doing so can we compare the difference between WFH and the other cohorts at the datum line. Second, we need to conquer the self‐selection bias. Most employees considering the possibility of WFH as the alternative way are familiar with applying ICT applications (e.g. email and online meeting apps) and necessary equipment (e.g. laptop and smartphone). In addition, employees' meta‐cognitive knowledge – their understanding of their capacity to cope with various situations under WFH ways (e.g. interruption caused by children and communication with line manager) – may play a similar self‐selective role. On the basis of these self‐selective factors, individuals evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of WFH and make decisions (Williams, McDonald and Cathcart 2017 ). Not controlling for this nonrandom self‐selection implies that observed job performance may reflect individuals' superior knowledge, capacity, or equipment rather than the actual effect of WFH. However, it is difficult to isolate the effects of job characteristics of WFH and the influence of individual heterogeneity explicitly associated with WFH. Thus, this paper adopts the JDCS model to investigate the effect of WFH on employees' job performance.

In the last 20 years, inconsistent findings have been found on the effect of WFH on employees' performance, especially in terms of work efficiency, turnover intention, goal completion, work motivation and job satisfaction (Gajendran and Harrison 2007 ; Golden 2006 ). On the one hand, some studies have found that WFH leads to high job performance (Bloom et al. 2015 ; Campo, Avolio and Carlier 2021 ; Choukir et al. 2022 ; Ipsen et al. 2021 ; Liu, Wan and Fan 2021 ). On the other hand, studies have found that WFH may lead to employees' lack of supervision, miscommunication, and less organizational commitment (Madell 2021 ). These disadvantages can create uncertainty that affects job satisfaction and consequently lead to lowering performance among employees, as gauged by companies' key performance indicators (Pepitone 2013 ). Some scholars have argued that WFH is negatively related to employees' job performance (Mustajab et al. 2020 ; Van Der Lippe and Lippényi 2020 ). Raišienė et al. ( 2020 ) suggested an investigation of the influence of WFH on job performance based on a contingency view, which depends on employees' gender, age, education, work experience, and telework experience. Table 1 summarizes the related literature.

Summary of related literature

Hypothesis development

Which one is better influence of wfh on job performance.

The JDCS model provides a sound theoretical basis for the influence of WFH on job performance. It originated from the job demand–control (JDC) model, which explains how job characteristics alter employees' stress, performance and satisfaction (Karasek and Theorell 1990 ). The JDC model posits two fundamental characteristics of an occupation: job demand and job control. Job demand is defined initially as ‘physical consumptions and psychological tensions involved in accomplishing the workload’, which negatively relate to workplace well‐being and relevant performance (Karasek and Theorell 1990 , 291). Job control (originally decision latitude) is the extent to which an employee has the authority to decide and utilize skills concerning the job and exert a positive effect on workplace outcomes. The JDCS model compounds the prominence of environmental factors on the overall well‐being within the workplace (Baka 2020 ). Thus, social support was integrated into the JDC model (named JDCS model) as a further fundamental characteristic of the work environment, implicating its synergistic effect on reducing stress and promoting well‐being in the working environment (Johnson and Hall 1988 ).

Given the inconsistent findings on the relationship between WFH and job performance, we further investigate the effect of WFH on job performance based on the JDCS model. The COVID‐19 pandemic has made WFH a sudden reality, as the ILO defined WFH in the context of the COVID‐19 pandemic as a temporary and alternative home‐based teleworking arrangement (ILO 2020 ). Waizenegger et al. ( 2020 ) articulated the differences between remote e‐working before and during the COVID‐19 pandemic.

Given the two mechanisms of JDCS, we further investigate the effect of WFC on job performance separately from the perspective of job demand and job control. On the one hand, WFH may lead to high job control, which benefits job performance, because not all job functions and tasks can be done outside the employers' premises or the specified workplace (Waizenegger et al. 2020 ). WFH is not practical or feasible or cannot be deployed quickly in some jobs and tasks (Williams, McDonald and Cathcart 2017 ). Accordingly, employees can arrange their time and energy with adequate job autonomy when they are WFH. They can deal with tasks under the best working status and promote work productivity and quality. On the other hand, WFH may lead to high job demand, which decreases job performance. Job demands are typically operationalized in terms of quantitative aspects, such as workload and time pressure (Hopkins and McKay 2019 ; Karasek and Theorell 1990 ). The boundary between working and leisure times becomes ambiguous when employees are WFH. Employees are usually pushed to work for longer hours and face high job demand, which is harmful to work productivity and quality. Therefore, assessing the influence of WFH on employees' feeling of their work completion is vaguer and more complicated compared with WFO, which leads us to propose our first hypothesis as a set of two alternatives:

Employees who are WFH are more satisfied with their job performance (i.e. job quality and job productivity).

Employees who are WFH are less satisfied with their job performance (i.e. job quality and job productivity).

Mediating role of job demand between WFH and job performance

On the basis of the JDCS model (Karasek and Theorell 1990 ), we tend to examine the differences of job fundamental characteristics and the moderating effect of social support on job performance between WFH and other working routines. WFH may increase job demand due to its possibility of pushing individuals to work for longer hours and increase the intensity of individuals. It will lead to a high investment of personal resources and bring adverse effects afterward.

First, WFH acquires more personal energy and time to invest in dealing with ‘communication via technology’, and employees may need to learn and equip with knowledge accordingly, including terms of using WFH tools and methods of collaboration (Yang et al. 2021 ). Moreover, employees may face the risks of technology fatigue or crash, which may result in negative psychological effects of misinformation and putting off work accomplishments (Khan 2021 ). Second, when employees need to continue to work beyond the regular working hours, they will inevitably face continuous additional work pressure, which makes them unable to relax and recover physically and mentally. Accordingly, more personal time and resources are demanded to invest in the job (Xie et al. 2018 ). Ayyagari, Grover and Purvis ( 2011 ) believed that WFH forms in such a convenient manner where employees may be required to stay on call for quarantine for a long time. WFH may influence employees' everyday life and lead to a perception of higher expectations for their working hours and intensity by their company and work loading. Ter Hoeven, van Zoonen and Fonner ( 2016 ) also verified this and reported that WFH may cost extra job demands from employees, including financial assets, energy, time and psychological capital. If those demands are too high, they may further make a series of workplace deviation behaviors, such as time‐encroached behaviors, to alleviate their loss of personal resources (Vayre 2021 ), consequently reducing their job performance.

The relationship between WFH and job performance is mediated by job demand.

Mediating role of job control between WFH and job performance

We further reason that the relationship between WFH and job performance is mediated by job control. The most prominent advantage of WFH is regarded as flexibly anytime and anywhere, which can significantly enhance employees' sense of job control and autonomy (Richardson and Thompson 2012 ). Mazmanian, Orlikowski and Yates ( 2013 ) found that employees who complete work tasks through WFH would have increased perceived work control and work flexibility. WFH can also enhance job autonomy in respect of task arrangement, work manner and task order (Mazmanian, Orlikowski and Yates 2013 ). Studies have also verified that WFH will promote employees' benefits in the field of the family via a more flexible and adaptable arrangement (Dockery and Bawa 2018 ). As a result, it can balance their work and family duties concerning the different daily situations and perform well (Tønnessena, Dhira and Flåten 2021 ).

The relationship between WFH and job performance is mediated by job control.

Moderating role of employers' anti‐epidemic policy

Social support is characterized by helpful relations with supervisors and coworkers (Mayo et al. 2012 ). Previous evidence has argued that a lack of support from employers when applying WFH may lead to a series of problems and thus reduce job performance (Palumbo 2020 ). According to the JDCS model, social support often buffers the effects of job demands and job control on the work‐related outcomes of employees (Johnson and Hall 1988 ). We investigate the moderation effect of social support on the relationship between job demand/control and job performance.

First, WFH may lead to isolation among employees if they have fewer interactions with their coworkers, supervisors and managers. Second, employees may not get recognition and support when needed, which may lead to employees' dissatisfaction, as their social needs cannot be fulfilled by WFH (Marshall, Michaels and Mulki 2007 ). Another negative consequence is receiving less recognition for achievements because exhibiting their work achievements is more difficult when all communication is conducted electronically (Zhang 2016). The limitation exists because when employees are WFH, they usually submit their work when it is ready. However, their manager may not see the process involved in producing a deliverable; some employees may work overtime, but their work is only judged by the result, not by the difficulties they overcome. Thus, policies or strategies should be implemented to enhance employers' feeling of embeddedness, not only for the sake of job performance but also for their well‐being and sustainability of human resourcing of organizations.

Particularly, considering the context of the epidemic, support actions from employers aiming to be anti‐epidemic and protect employees will be essential to improve the positive consequences of WFH. Thus, the present paper takes employers' anti‐epidemic policy as prominent social support worthy of examining. Indeed, some Chinese companies coined proactive guidance and support for employees (Reeves et al. 2020 ). The support reportedly helped employees feel less stressed, experience more positive feelings toward their leader and their team, and created an atmosphere of trust and understanding that motivated them to apply themselves more fully to work (Xu and Thomas 2011 ). In this case, we suggest that a moderating effect of the employers' anti‐epidemic policy is significantly observed on the influence of WFH on job performance. Figure 1 shows the conceptual framework.

Social support moderates the relationship between job demand and job performance, such that the relationship is weaker when social support is high rather than low.

Social support moderates the relationship between job control and job performance, such that the relationship is stronger when social support is high rather than low.

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is APHR-9999-0-g001.jpg

The conceptual framework

Our sample was collected from China. It is the first region where the government applied a lockdown policy, which encouraged employers to organize their employees to WFH to mitigate the massive health crisis. Nevertheless, in March 2020, due to the sound control of COVID‐19 spread, after only a few months' lockdowns, Chinese citizens were able to return gradually to their normal work–life routine. As a result, some employees were WFH, and some of them returned to their normal work routine. Different from the previous research conducted in a limited number of industries or focusing on a particular occupation group, such a situation provides us a unique opportunity to design comparison research to understand early, initial reactions of a wide range of occupational groups and industries toward WFH and its social effect in the epidemic context.

Data were collected via an online survey, provided by a Chinese survey company called Wenjuanxing ( www.wjx.cn ), a platform providing functions equivalent to Amazon Mechanical Turk. Research on WFH confronts a widely noted difficulty in managing data face‐to‐face, especially during this particular epidemic term. Thus, we chose to issue and collect the questionnaire online.

We initially did a pilot survey on 1 March 2020, with 100 observations. Later, after adjustments to the questionnaire, we issued the formal study of 5 March 2020, a month after the earliest date for work resumption according to the Chinese government. Thus, some employees were returning to workplace (RTW), and some continued WFH after Chinese New Year. As mentioned before, this particular time allows us to do a comparison study that covers various types of occupation and organization to seek the differences between WFH and RTW when society is confronted with a significant public health emergency. After collecting data for two weeks, we gathered 1342 observations.

Furthermore, to alleviate the self‐selective bias caused by participants passively excluded from WFH due to lacking necessary conditions, we took the inclusion criteria that required the participants to be equipped with requirements of WFH, such as essential online tools and Internet access. We identified the qualified group by asking, ‘Do you think you have the qualified conditions to be working from home (e.g., possesses Internet access, laptop, smart phone, software, and apps)?’ Then, we selected those who answered yes. After cleansing invalid data, the final sample consisted of 861 individuals, among which 442 claimed that they were WFH, and 419 were RTW.

Participants

Our sample comprised participants who were portrayed as young and received a high‐level of education, who were aged around 31–35 on average. The participants were 44% male. The majority of the participants were qualified with undergraduate degree. Particularly, 9.98% of the participants were married without children, 58.65% were married with children, 30.89% were single without children, and 0.4% were single with children. Around half of the participants (50.41%) worked for private enterprises, 16.7% worked for state‐owned enterprises, 15.21% worked for foreign companies, and others worked in government or public institutions. The participants at management positions accounted for 41%. Those who had marketing duties accounted for 31%. Others had positions in R&D. The participants worked for 9.36 days on average after the Chinese New Year (also the deadline of the epidemic blockade), and 71% of them had experience of training or education while WFH. The participants were from 16 places in China, the largest portions were from Guangdong Province (13.43%), Shanghai (7.66%), Shandong (6.15%), and Jiangsu (6.15%).

Dependent variable

Job performance was measured by two items adopted from a structured measurement coined by Viswesvaran, Ones and Schmidt’s ( 1996 ) measurement of job performance (overall job performance, productivity, and quality). We applied the two dimensions of job performance, namely, ‘productivity’ and ‘quality’, which were examined by self‐evaluation questions: 1) In terms of productivity, how do you evaluate the quantity or volume of work produced today (e.g. number of transactions completed)? 2) In terms of quality, how do you feel about how well the job was done today (You can consider several aspects of the quality of tasks completed, including lack of errors, accuracy to specifications, thoroughness, and amount of wastage)? The answers were measured using a Likert scale, from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent). As a key self‐evaluation measurement of job performance, Viswesvaran, Ones and Schmidt’s ( 1996 ) instrument has been widely applied by following scholars in the fields of organizational behavior, psychology, and human resource management (Judge et al. 2001 ; Lee, Berry and Gonzalez‐Mulé 2019 ; Murphy 2020 ).

Independent variable

WFH was used here to identify the work status of respondents, with 1 representing WFH, and 0 representing WFO.

Job demand and job control were measured following Gonzalez‐Mulé and Cockburn ( 2017 ) work, which is a well‐documented instrument widely applied in research and referred to as the JDC model.

Job demand was measured by eight questions (e.g. ‘To what extent do you agree that your job requires working very hard?’ ‘To what extent do you agree that your job requires working very fast?’). The answer was measured using a Likert scale, from 1 (completely disagree) to 5 (completely agree; Cronbach's alpha = 0.83).

Job control was measured by seven questions (e.g. ‘To what extent do you agree that your job allows you to make a lot of decisions on your own?’ ‘To what extent do you agree that you have a lot to say about what happens on your job?’). The answer was measured using a Likert scale, from 1 (completely disagree) to 5 (completely agree; Cronbach's alpha = 0.75).

Social support was measured by employees' satisfaction on employers' anti‐epidemic policy. The survey question was, ‘Overall, are you satisfied with your employers’ anti‐epidemic support (e.g. financial support, emotional support from line managers, anti‐epidemic knowledge guides, and clear guidelines of WFH)?’ The answer was a dummy one, 1 representing yes, and 0 indicating no.

Control variables

First, we controlled for effective communication as a key factor that affects the quality of job performance, given that the majority of the literature has argued that ineffective communication is one of the greatest challenges of interpersonal collaborations mediated by ICTs in WHF (Wang et al. 2021 ). We controlled a set of communication factors in terms of ‘accurately delivered job content’ and ‘fully expressed the information’, among others. The answers were designed as a Likert scale, from 1 (completely disagree) to 5 (completely agree).

Furthermore, consistent with earlier studies, we controlled for difference of working hours, namely, the difference between daily working hours and today’s working hours, working experiences, normal daily working hours, daily number of colleagues they worked with, daily number of leaders they worked with, daily number of departments they worked with, daily commuting time, positions, age, gender, education, marital status, nature of employers, position levels, and days of starting work after the Chinese New Year. The definitions of variables are provided in Table A1 .

Definition of variables

Analysis strategy

Our analysis consists of three steps. In Step 1, to test our hypothesis 1, we applied entropy balance and weighted mean difference Welch's t ‐test (mean after entropy balance matching) methods to compare the self‐evaluated job performance between WFH and WFO employees. Following the approach of recent papers on labor economics and health (Hetschko, Schöb and Wolf 2016 ; Kunze and Suppa 2017 ; Nikolova, 2019 ), our strategy includes 1) data preprocessing to form comparable groups of individuals as treatment and control group (treatment group: WFH employees; control group: RTW employees) by applying entropy balance, and 2) estimating the treatment effect after matching by Welch's t ‐test. We also reconfirmed the regression result (Hainmueller 2012 ).

In Step 2, we investigated the direct and mediating effects of job control and job demand on job performance (hypotheses 2 and 3). We applied the quasi‐Bayesian Monte Carlo method to test the mediating effect of job demand and job control, which is a technique to increase the robustness of the mediating test by employing a strategy of numerous repeated re‐sampling to build an empirical approximation of the sampling distribution and examine the indirect effects by constructing the confidence intervals (CIs; Imai, Keele and Tingley 2010 ). We used the package ‘Mediation’ for causal mediation analysis. In addition, to confirm the validity and reliability of mediating hypotheses results, we used structural equation modeling (SEM) as robustness check, with package ‘lavaan’ to assess the mediating effect of job control and job demand on the relationship between WFH and job performance.

In Step 3, to test the moderating effect of social support, we applied hierarchical regressions at the final step by following the classical approaches to seek the significance of interactions in a set of model tests.

All the analysis is conducted with software R.

Before testing the hypotheses, a benchmark test of a binary correlation matrix is presented in Table 2 . The overall coefficient is not high, and a variance inflation factor was performed at below 10, demonstrating low multicollinearity.

Variables correlation matrix

Influence of WFH on self‐reported job performance (hypotheses1a and 1b tests)

Before proceeding to test hypothesis 1 in Step 1, we first applied the entropy balance and weighted mean difference (mean after entropy balance matching) methods. The quality of entropy balance matching combined with a data description is summarized in Table 4 . Before matching, WFH employees worked for <2.7 h daily on average compared with their pre‐daily working hours. Employees who had returned to work worked <0.53 h on average than their current daily work. After matching, this difference was reduced. WFH employees are used to having less colleagues to work with (mean: WFH = 2.91, RTW = 3.18), are less likely to work at back office (mean: WFH = 0.10, RTW = 0.18), are younger (mean: WFH = 2.62, RTW = 2.77), are less likely to be married and have a child or children (mean: WFH = 0.52, RTW = 0.56), and are more likely to be single and without a child or children (mean: WFH = 0.36, RTW = 0.26). In addition, WFH employees indicated that they started working after Chinese New Year a day later than WFO employees (mean: WFH = 9.36, RTW = 11.09). In particular, WFH employees experienced better interpersonal communication than RTW employees (mean: WFH = 2.74, RTW = 2.67). In entropy balance matching, we matched all conditioning variables, and the bias of each matched variables was reduced to nearly 0, supporting good quality of entropy balance matching. Moreover, differences in mean and variance between the treatment and control groups were largely reduced after weighting (see in Table A2 ).

Causal mediation analysis of job control and job demand

^ p < 0.1; * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001.

Descriptive statistics before treatment, selected covariate variables, before and after matching

Then, we verified hypothesis 1 by measuring the ATT under the balanced matching conditions in Table 3 . After matching, the results for hypothesis 1 are presented in Tables 5 and and6. 6 . The results show that WFH employees are more satisfied with quality (mean: WFH = 4.56, RTW = 4.11, p < 0.01). In addition, WFH employees feel less satisfied with productivity (mean: WFH = 3.86, RTW = 4.05, p < 0.01). Hypotheses 1a and 1b were supported.

Treatment effect of WFH before and after entropy balance matching

* p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001.

Regressions on satisfaction with job performance (quality)

^ p < 0.1; * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001; Standard errors in parentheses.

Regressions on satisfaction with job performance (productivity)

* p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001; Standard errors in parentheses.

Mediating role of job demand and job control (hypotheses 2 and 3 tests)

Changes in job demand and job control can be observed from Step 1 in Tables 5 and and6. 6 . Under balanced matching conditions, WFH employees experience a significantly higher level of job control (ATT: WFH = 3.67, RTW = 3.58, p < 0.05). More specifically, such change is noteworthy in the job control of ‘talking right’ (con2; ATT: WFH = 3.24, RTW = 3.06, p < 0.05) and job control of ‘working rate’ (con5; ATT: WFH = 3.69, RTW = 3.16, p < 0.001). In terms of job demand, WFH employees experience a significantly lower level than RTW employees (mean: WFH = 3.37, RTW = 3.46, p < 0.001). The difference is obviously observed in terms of ‘long periods of intense concentration’ (dem3; ATT: WFH = 3.57, RTW = 3.73, p < 0.05) and ‘hecticness of the job’ (dem4; ATT: WFH = 3.25, RTW = 3.48, p < 0.01). These results imply that WFH may lead to changes in job control and job demand, which may intermediately affect job performance.

Therefore, in the second step, we tested the mediating effect by applying the quasi‐Bayesian Monte Carlo method in Table 4 . The results show that in terms of quality, the mediating effect of job control and job demand is confirmed as statistically significant (job control = 0.14, p < 0.001; job demand = −0.02, p < 0.01). The proportion of mediating effect on total effect is around 23.72% and 4.33%. We also tested the mediating effect of the important items of job control and job demand. We find that the job control on ‘working rate’ (con5; 0.12, p < 0.10, prop. mediated = 21.05%), job demand on ‘long periods of intense concentration’ (dem3; −0.03, p < 0.01, prop. mediated = 5.3%), and ‘hecticness of the job’ (dem4; −0.03, p < 0.05, prop. mediated = 6%) positively mediate the relationship between WFH and satisfaction with quality.

In terms of productivity performance, the mediating effect of job control and job demand is supported (job control = 0.03, p < 0.05, prop. mediated = 16.4.5%; job demand = −0.03, p < 0.01, prop. mediated = 21.25%). However, it is noticeable, unlike in the domain of quality, that the mediating effect of job control and job demand contributes to the direct impact of WFH. Such mediating effect trades off the direct influence of WFH on satisfaction with productivity. Items such as job control on ‘working rate’ (con5; 0.01, p < 0.05, prop. mediated = 5.88%) and job demand on ‘long periods of intense concentration’ (dem3; −0.03, p < 0.01, prop. mediated = 20.11%) mediate the relationship between WFH and satisfaction with productivity. In this case, hypotheses 3 and 4 are fully supported.

In addition, the robustness check results via SEM analysis (both classical and bootstrap approach is used) is consistent with the quasi‐Bayesian Monte Carlo analysis. Accordingly, hypotheses 3 and 4 are supported as well (see details in Tables A3 and andA4 A4 ).

Robustness check of mediation effect by structure equation modelling

Moderating role of social support (hypotheses 4a and 4b tests)

Tables 5 and and6 6 present the results of the moderating analysis of social support by applying hierarchical regressions. The results from the first four regression models consider the direct impact of WFH, job control, job demand and social support on self‐reported job performance as benchmark (Models 1–4 in Tables 5 and and6). 6 ). Models 5–7 test the moderating effect of employers' social support on the relationships between job control, job demand and social support with job performance. We initially find that the social support is significantly positively related to satisfaction with quality (0.16, p < 0.001) and productivity (0.27, p < 0.001). Toward the moderating effect of employers' anti‐epidemic policy, we find the interaction terms of job demand*social support to be only significant on the regressions on satisfaction of productivity (−0.07, p < 0.05). That is, hypothesis 4a is supported.

Overall, the results of testing the hypotheses are shown in Table 7 and Figure 2 .

Results of hypotheses

* p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001.

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is APHR-9999-0-g002.jpg

The hypotheses results presented in the conceptual framework

Discussion and conclusion

In responding to the inconsistent findings on the impact of WFH on job performance, the present paper found that WFH helps promote job performance in terms of quality but leads to poor job performance in terms of productivity, which indicates that WFH may not always play an ‘either‐or’ (positive or negative) role, as previous theories suggest. To explore the causal mechanism underpinning the findings, based on the JDCS model, we found that WFH affects job performance via job demand and control path, moderated by social support, which indicate that WFH leads to flexibility, and employees have more autonomy to work at any timepoint per day to finalize their job. They usually choose the timepoint to conduct work when they have a desirable working condition, consequently cultivate focus, concentration and creativity (Hunter 2019 ). Accordingly, job quality can be enhanced. Despite a good job quality, WFH employees devote higher job demand. Thus, it is not conducive to job productivity than WFO employees. In addition, we found the positive moderating role of social support from organizations to enhance job performance during epidemic crisis.

Theoretical implications

The present paper aims to contribute in several ways. Our study extends the JDCS model under the context of COVID‐19 by investigating whether WFH can render the change in job control and job demand and exert influence on employees' job performance with the moderating effect of employers' support. The JDCS model can also help explain why WFH plays a mixed role to affect job performance. Prior studies have mainly qualitatively discussed changes to the way that individuals work during the COVID‐19 pandemic (Wang et al. 2021 ), the advantages and disadvantages of enforced WFH (Hallman et al. 2021 ; Purwanto 2020 ), ICT functions that enable to offer affordance to satisfy WFH targets (Waizenegger et al. 2020 ), and the way to provide a resource for WFH (Hafermalz and Riemer 2021 ). Research that indicates why WFH can affect employees' work‐related outcomes, particularly with empirical evidence, is limited. By applying a sample collected in China, we investigated two paths (i.e. job demand and job control) and a boundary condition (support) of the relationship between WFH and job performance.

Our results show that job control and job demand positively mediate the relationship between WFH and job performance. The increased job control and decreased job demand by applying WFH can be considered one of the main reasons WFH helps enhance job quality. This finding is notable because this study tends to clarify the mixed mechanism that WFH affects work‐related outcomes from the perspective of job characteristics and provides a theoretical framework. In terms of job productivity, we find that the increased job control and decreased job demand trade off the negative effect of WFH on productivity. Therefore, when explaining why WFH compared with WFO varies in job performance, the verified mediating effect of job control and job demand underpinned by the JDCS model can only account for job quality enhancement, rather than sufficiently support why WFH lowers job productivity.

The present paper also articulates the specific job control (‘talking right’ and ‘work rate’) and job demand (‘a long time of intense concentration’ and ‘hecticness of the job’) items are vital factors in performance enhancements. On the basis of such findings, we can presume that the ‘talking right’ enhanced by WFH implies that the enforced ‘physical distance’ may shorten the ‘power distance’ inscribed in hierarchical structure, because ICT enables communication flattening information transmitting in traditional stratified management. Reciprocally, such physical distance reduces redundant commands from managers, and workplace distractions trigger WFH employees to have more autonomy on ‘working rate’. Thereafter, in the wake of alleviations on ‘a long time of intense concentration’ and ‘hecticness of the job’, performance is enhanced.

Furthermore, we applied entropy balance matching, a method that has been regarded with more advantages for controlling self‐selection bias in quasi‐experiment research. Future studies could also adopt entropy balance matching to control self‐selection from process control, especially in the crisis context.

Empirical and managerial implications

Empirically, post COVID‐19, WFH may become a vital HRM strategy. According to the Gartner CFO Survey (2020), 74% of companies plan to shift some of their employees to remote working temporarily. Our findings may imply several valuable tips for organizational employers and employees if one wants to accommodate employees to WFH for the long term. We suggest that sustained and pragmatic WFH policy in terms of ‘set working hours’ and ‘taking regular breaks’ should be designed to reduce job demands, such as ‘a long time of intense concentration’ and ‘hecticness of the job’. Furthermore, employers may leave employees more empowerment on scheduling, enhance the equality among different hierarchy people, and avoid lengthy and discursive commands while working to improve the ‘talking right’ and ‘work rate’ autonomy for employees. In addition, social support is found to be a critical boundary condition between WFH and job characteristics. Thus, it is vital that sound and feasible epidemic policies, such as providing personal protective equipment, a financial sponsored program, psychological counselling and support, are put in place and executed as crucial responsibilities (Shani and Pizam 2009 ). And finally, employers need to be aware that more resources should be available for increased virtual collaboration needs as WFH has now taken hold and will be around for a long time in the future.

Limitation and future research perspectives

First, even though in the present study we have controlled for a wide range of variables that may potentially relate to job performance, inevitably, it still misses some relevant variables. For example, even though we have involved communication factors under control, technology fatigue may still contribute significantly on change of job demands and subsequently affect job performance (Yang et al. 2021 ). Second, our dataset is a cross‐sectional one and we asked employees to rate job performance rather than multilevel respondents. The absence of lagged performance data restricts the possibility of examining the long‐term effect of WFH on job performance and relationships between the variables of interest. As already noted, the current sample was collected at the early period of ending epidemic lockdown. By applying the cross‐sectional model, identifying the potential time variance (e.g. honeymoon effect) from the targeted relationship is difficult. Thus, future studies should adopt panel data and compare the present study to test for robustness.

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 72102033); Shanghai 2020 Science and Technology Innovation Action Plan (grant number 21692102600); the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China (grant number N2206012); the Humanities and Social Science Foundation of the Ministry of Education of China (grant number 21YJC630153); the Social Science Foundation of Liaoning in China (grant number L21CGL013).

Conflict of interest

We declare that we have no financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that can inappropriately influence our work, there is no professional or other personal interest of any nature or kind in any product, service and/or company that could be construed as influencing the position presented in, or the review of, the manuscript entitled, ‘Working from home vs. working from office in terms of job performance during COVID‐19 pandemic crisis: evidence from China’.

Biographies

Jingjing Qu is an associate professor at Shanghai AI Lab, China. Her research interests include artificial intelligence governance, artificial intelligence technology innovation and well‐being of entrepreneurs.

Jiaqi Yan is a lecturer at School of Business and Administration of Northeastern University. He received his PhD degree from Tongji University and studied as a joint PhD student at the University of Sydney. His research interests include human resource management, hospitality management and entrepreneurship.

Ayyagari R, Grover V and Purvis R (2011) Technostress: technological antecedents and implications . MIS Quarterly 35 ( 4 ), 831–858. [ Google Scholar ]
Baka L (2020) Types of job demands make a difference. Testing the job demand‐control‐support model among Polish police officers . The International Journal of Human Resource Management 31 ( 18 ), 2265–2288. [ Google Scholar ]
Bartram T and Cooke FL (2022) Celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources: what has been achieved and what more can be done . Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 60 ( 1 ), 3–21. [ Google Scholar ]
Balica R (2019) Automated data analysis in organizations: sensory algorithmic devices, intrusive workplace monitoring, and employee surveillance . Psychosociological Issues in Human Resource Management 7 ( 2 ), 61–66. [ Google Scholar ]
Bloom N, Liang J, Roberts J and Ying ZJ (2015) Does working from home work? Evidence from a Chinese experiment . The Quarterly Journal of Economics 130 ( 1 ), 165–218. [ Google Scholar ]
Bouziri H, Smith DR, Descatha A, Dab W and Jean K (2020) Working from home in the time of covid‐19: how to best preserve occupational health? Occupational and Environmental Medicine 77 ( 7 ), 509–510. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Campo AMDV, Avolio B and Carlier SI (2021) The relationship between telework, job performance, work–life balance and family supportive supervisor behaviours in the context of COVID‐19 . Global Business Review 1–19. 10.1177/09721509211049918 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
Choukir J, Alqahtani MS, Khalil E and Mohamed E (2022) Effects of working from home on job performance: empirical evidence in the Saudi context during the COVID‐19 pandemic . Sustainability 14 ( 6 ), 3216. [ Google Scholar ]
Dockery AM and Bawa S (2018) When two worlds collude: working from home and family functioning in Australia . International Labour Review 157 ( 4 ), 609–630. [ Google Scholar ]
Fonner KL and Roloff ME (2010) Why teleworkers are more satisfied with their jobs than are office‐based workers: when less contact is beneficial . Journal of Applied Communication Research 38 ( 4 ), 336–361. [ Google Scholar ]
Gajendran RS and Harrison DA (2007) The good, the bad, and the unknown about telecommuting: meta-analysis of psychological mediators and individual consequences . The Journal of Applied Psychology 92 ( 6 ), 1524–1541. 10.1037/0021-9010.92.6.1524 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
Golden TD (2006) The role of relationships in understanding telecommuter satisfaction . Journal of Organizational Behavior: The International Journal of Industrial, Occupational and Organizational Psychology and Behavior 27 ( 3 ), 319–340. [ Google Scholar ]
Gonzalez‐Mulé E and Cockburn B (2017) Worked to death: the relationships of job demands and job control with mortality . Personnel Psychology 70 ( 1 ), 73–112. [ Google Scholar ]
Hafermalz E and Riemer K (2021) Productive and connected while working from home: what client-facing remote workers can learn from telenurses about ‘belonging through technology’ . European Journal of Information Systems 30 ( 1 ), 89–99. [ Google Scholar ]
Hallman DM, Januario LB, Mathiassen SE, Heiden M, Svensson S and Bergström G (2021) Working from home during the COVID‐19 outbreak in Sweden: effects on 24‐h time‐use in office workers . BMC Public Health 21 ( 1 ), 1–10. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Hainmueller J (2012) Entropy balancing for causal effects: a multivariate reweighting method to produce balanced samples in observational studies . Political Analysis 20 ( 1 ), 25–46. [ Google Scholar ]
Hetschko, C. , Schöb, R. , & Wolf, T. (2016). Income support, (un‐)employment and well‐being . CESifo Working Paper Series, 6016.
Hopkins J and McKay J (2019) Investigating anywhere working as a mechanism for alleviating traffic congestion in smart cities . Technological Forecasting & Social Change 142 , 258–272. [ Google Scholar ]
Hunter P (2019) Remote working in research: an increasing usage of flexible work arrangements can improve productivity and creativity . EMBO Reports 20 ( 1 ), e47435. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Hurley D and Popescu GH (2021) Medical big data and wearable internet of things healthcare systems in remotely monitoring and caring for confirmed or suspected COVID‐19 patients . American Journal of Medical Research 8 ( 2 ), 78–90. [ Google Scholar ]
Imai K, Keele L and Tingley D (2010) A general approach to causal mediation analysis . Psychological Methods 15 ( 4 ), 309. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Ipsen C, van Veldhoven M, Kirchner K and Hansen JP (2021) Six key advantages and disadvantages of working from home in Europe during COVID‐19 . International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18 ( 4 ), 1826. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
International Labour Office . (2020). An employers' guide on working from home in response to the outbreak of COVID‐19 . https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/‐‐‐ed_dialogue/‐‐‐act_emp/documents/publication/wcms_745024.pdf (accessed 20 July 2021).
Johnson JV and Hall EM (1988) Job strain, work place social support, and cardiovascular disease: a cross‐sectional study of a random sample of the Swedish working population . American Journal of Public Health 78 ( 10 ), 1336–1342. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Judge TA, Thoresen CJ, Bono JE and Patton GK (2001) The job satisfaction–job performance relationship: a qualitative and quantitative review . Psychological Bulletin 127 ( 3 ), 376. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Karasek RA and Theorell T (1990) Healthy work: stress, productivity, and the reconstruction of working life . Basic Books, New York. [ Google Scholar ]
Kassick D (2019) Workforce analytics and human resource metrics: algorithmically managed workers, tracking and surveillance technologies, and wearable biological measuring devices . Psychosociological Issues in Human Resource Management 7 ( 2 ), 55–60. [ Google Scholar ]
Khan A (2021) A diary study of psychological effects of misinformation and COVID‐19 threat on work engagement of working from home employees . Technological Forecasting & Social Change 171 , 1–10. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Kunze L and Suppa N (2017) Bowling alone or bowling at all? The effect of unemployment on social participation . Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 133 , 213–235. [ Google Scholar ]
Lee Y, Berry CM and Gonzalez‐Mulé E (2019) The importance of being humble: a meta‐analysis and incremental validity analysis of the relationship between honesty‐humility and job performance . Journal of Applied Psychology 104 ( 12 ), 1535. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Liu L, Wan W and Fan Q (2021) How and when telework improves job performance during COVID‐19? Job crafting as mediator and performance goal orientation as moderator . Psychology Research and Behavior Management 14 , 2181. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Madell, R . (2021). Pros and cons of working from home . https://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside‐voices‐careers/articles/pros‐and‐cons‐of‐working‐from‐home (accessed 20 July 2021)
Marshall GW, Michaels CE and Mulki JP (2007) Workplace isolation: exploring the construct and its measurement . Psychology & Marketing 24 ( 3 ), 195–223. [ Google Scholar ]
Mayo M, Sanchez JI, Pastor JC and Rodriguez A (2012) Supervisor and coworker support: a source congruence approach to buffering role conflict and physical stressors . The International Journal of Human Resource Management 23 ( 18 ), 3872–3889. [ Google Scholar ]
Mazmanian M, Orlikowski WJ and Yates J (2013) The autonomy paradox: the implications of mobile email devices for knowledge professionals . Organization Science 24 ( 5 ), 1337–1357. [ Google Scholar ]
Murphy KR (2020) Performance evaluation will not die, but it should . Human Resource Management Journal 30 ( 1 ), 13–31. [ Google Scholar ]
Mustajab D, Bauw A, Rasyid A, Irawan A, Akbar MA and Hamid MA (2020) Working from home phenomenon as an effort to prevent COVID‐19 attacks and its impacts on work productivity . TIJAB (The International Journal of Applied Business) 4 ( 1 ), 13–21. [ Google Scholar ]
Nakrošienė A, Bučiūnienė I and Goštautaitė B (2019) Working from home: characteristics and outcomes of telework . International Journal of Manpower 40 ( 1 ), 87–101. [ Google Scholar ]
Nemțeanu SM, Dabija DC and Stanca L (2021) The influence of teleworking on performance and employee’s counterproductive behaviour . Amfiteatru Economic 23 ( 58 ), 601–619. [ Google Scholar ]
Nikolova M (2019) Switching to self-employment can be good for your health . Journal of Business Venturing 34 ( 4 ), 664–691. [ Google Scholar ]
Olsen M (2019) Using data analytics in the management of employees: digital means of tracking, monitoring, and surveilling worker activities . Psychosociological Issues in Human Resource Management 7 ( 2 ), 43–48. [ Google Scholar ]
Palumbo R (2020) Let me go to the office! An investigation into the side effects of working from home on work‐life balance . International Journal of Public Sector Management 33 ( 6 ), 771–790. [ Google Scholar ]
Pepitone, J. (2013). Marissa Mayer: Yahoos can no longer work from home. CNN Tech . https://money.cnn.com/2013/02/25/technology/yahoo‐work‐from‐home/index.html (accessed 20 July 2021) [ Google Scholar ]
Purwanto A (2020) Effect of hard skills, soft skills, organizational learning and innovation capability on Islamic University lecturers’ performance . Systematic Reviews in Pharmacy . https://ssrn.com/abstract=3986845 [ Google Scholar ]
Raišienė AG, Rapuano V, Varkulevičiūtė K and Stachová K (2020) Working from home—who is happy? A survey of Lithuania’s employees during the COVID‐19 quarantine period . Sustainability 12 ( 13 ), 5332. [ Google Scholar ]
Reeves JJ, Hollandsworth HM, Torriani FJ, Taplitz R, Abeles S, Tai‐Seale M, Millen M, Clay BJ and Longhurst CA (2020) Rapid response to COVID‐19: health informatics support for outbreak management in an academic health system . Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association 27 ( 6 ), 853–859. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Richardson KM and Thompson CA (2012) High tech tethers and work‐family conflict: a conservation of resources approach . Engineering Management Research 1 , 29–43. [ Google Scholar ]
Rogers R (2021) Internet of things‐based smart healthcare systems, wireless connected devices, and body sensor networks in COVID‐19 remote patient monitoring . American Journal of Medical Research 8 ( 1 ), 71–80. [ Google Scholar ]
Stanek D and Mokhtarian P (1998) Developing models of preference for home‐based and center‐based telecommuting: findings and forecasts . Technological Forecasting and Social Change 57 , 53–74. [ Google Scholar ]
Shani A and Pizam A (2009) Work‐related depression among hotel employees . Cornell Hospitality Quarterly 50 ( 4 ), 446–459. [ Google Scholar ]
Ter Hoeven CL, van Zoonen W and Fonner KL (2016) The practical paradox of technology: The influence of communication technology use on employee burnout and engagement . Communication Monographs 83 ( 2 ), 239–263. 10.1080/03637751.2015.1133920 [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
Tønnessena Ø, Dhira A and Flåten B (2021) Digital knowledge sharing and creative performance: work from home during the COVID‐19 pandemic . Technological Forecasting & Social Change 170 , 2–13. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Illegems V, Verbeke A and S’Jegers R (2001) The organizational context of teleworking implementation . Technological Forecasting and Social Change 68 , 275–291. [ Google Scholar ]
Van Der Lippe T and Lippényi Z (2020) Co‐workers working from home and individual and team performance . New Technology, Work and Employment 35 ( 1 ), 60–79. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Vayre E (2021) Challenges in deploying telework: benefits and risks for employees . Digital Transformations in the Challenge of Activity and Work: Understanding and Supporting Technological Changes 3 , 87–100. [ Google Scholar ]
Viswesvaran C, Ones DS and Schmidt FL (1996) Comparative analysis of the reliability of job performance ratings . Journal of Applied Psychology 81 ( 5 ), 557. [ Google Scholar ]
Wang B, Liu Y, Qian J and Parker SK (2021) Achieving effective during the COVID‐19 pandemic: a work design perspective . Applied Psychology 70 ( 1 ), 16–59. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Watson SK and Elliot M (2016) Entropy balancing: a maximum‐entropy reweighting scheme to adjust for coverage error . Quality & Quantity 50 ( 4 ), 1781–1797. [ Google Scholar ]
Waizenegger L, McKenna B, Cai W and Bendz T (2020) An affordance perspective of team collaboration and enforced working from home during COVID‐19 . European Journal of Information Systems 29 ( 4 ), 429–442. [ Google Scholar ]
Williams P, McDonald P and Cathcart A (2017) Executive‐level support for flexible work arrangements in a large insurance organization . Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 55 ( 3 ), 337–355. [ Google Scholar ]
Woods M and Miklencicova R (2021) Digital epidemiological surveillance, smart telemedicine diagnosis systems, and machine learning‐based real‐time data sensing and processing in COVID‐19 remote patient monitoring . American Journal of Medical Research 8 ( 2 ), 65–77. [ Google Scholar ]
Xie J, Ma H, Zhou ZE and Tang H (2018) Work‐related use of information and communication technologies after hours (W_ICTs) and emotional exhaustion: a mediated moderation model . Computers in Human Behavior 79 , 94–104. [ Google Scholar ]
Xu J and Thomas HC (2011) How can leaders achieve high employee engagement? Leadership & Organization Development Journal 32 ( 4 ), 399–416. 10.1108/01437731111134661 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
Yan J, Holtz D, Jaffe S, Suri S, Sinha S, Weston J, Joyce C, Shah N, Sherman K, Hecht B and Teevan J (2021) The effect of remote work on collaboration among information workers . Nature Human Behavior 95 , 102935. 10.1038/s41562-021-01196-4 [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
Yang E, Kim Y and Hong S (2021) Does working from home work? Experience of working from home and the value of hybrid workplace post-COVID-19 . Journal of Corporate Real Estate . 10.1108/jcre-04-2021-0015 [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
Zhang C, Yu MC and Marin S (2021) Exploring public sentiment on enforced remote work during COVID‐19 . Journal of Applied Psychology 106 ( 6 ), 797. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]

compare and contrast working from home and working at office

Will work from home become a new norm post-pandemic? These days, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought a need for social distancing with it, and a historic worldwide work-from-home experiment as a result. Having time to evaluate their opinion of home working, employees are split on whether they’d rather work at home or in an office. One of the reasons is that there are many differences between a home-based job and an office-based job, the most notable of which are the commute, the work schedule, and the way employees communicate with others. One of the major differences between a home-based job and an office-based job is the commute. Working from home means there is no commuting back and forth from work, there is no hurry in the morning to get ready and out the door by a certain time because the distance we have to travel is roughly the length of our living space. Instead of wasting time in traffic congestion, being unproductive, and on high alert during the whole commute journey, people can spend the extra time saved here for work tasks, for personal care and family. Meanwhile, for office workers, a morning routine can be a hassle due to the dreaded daily commute. According to Numbeo, the average daily commute for workers in Vietnam is 29.85 minutes, and in total, it takes us more than an hour there and back. Employees have to show up at 8:00 AM after suffering from heavy traffic under Vietnam’s hot and humid weather, only to then get stuck in a traffic jam for 30-60 minutes when coming back home. Moreover, these two also differ in regard to the work schedule: home working offers flexible working hours, whereas office job offers a set schedule. A work from home policy allows employees to adjust the days and hours of work according to their preferences. It provides us with the absolute flexibility of choosing to work in our peak productivity hours and to take a break when energy levels are low. On the negative side, it may lead to difficulty in keeping work and home life separate. In contrast, office work demands alignment. The 9-to-5 work schedule has been the norm for many workplaces, despite the fact that some people might not be effective at all then. On the bright side, there’s a definitive start and stop time. Another significant distinction is our ways of communication/how we communicate with each other. While face-to-face interaction and email are the most commonly and frequently used modes of workplace communication, tech tools and virtual conference platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Slack, etc. are essential for a distributed team to maintain communication. The advancement in digital technology within the last decade have greatly expanded our ability to telecommute and keep in touch with others without having to be physically present in the office. However, no matter how fast people respond to messages on Whatsapp or Slack, it is always more convenient to get things done when the person we need is in front of us. Even video calls, for one, aren't like being face-to-face in an actual office. In real-life conversation, we use not only words, but also a gazillion micro expressions as well as other non-verbal cues, and a lot of this is lost online. In conclusion, working from home and working in an office is different in many ways namely commuting, working hours, and modes of communication. Depending on each individual’s needs and personality, one might prefer one working style to another and decide which might work best for them.

Essay evaluations by e-grader

Grammar and spelling errors: Line 1, column 466, Rule ID: A_INFINITVE[1] Message: Probably a wrong construction: a/the + infinitive ...ased job, the most notable of which are the commute, the work schedule, and the way employe... ^^^^^^^^^^^ Line 2, column 82, Rule ID: A_INFINITVE[1] Message: Probably a wrong construction: a/the + infinitive ...me-based job and an office-based job is the commute. Working from home means there is no co... ^^^^^^^^^^^ Line 2, column 131, Rule ID: COMMUTE_BACK_AND_FORTH[1] Message: Use simply 'commuting'. Suggestion: commuting ...te. Working from home means there is no commuting back and forth from work, there is no hurry in the mor... ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Line 4, column 756, Rule ID: EN_CONTRACTION_SPELLING Message: Possible spelling mistake found Suggestion: aren't ...front of us. Even video calls, for one, arent like being face-to-face in an actual of... ^^^^^

Transition Words or Phrases used: also, but, however, if, may, moreover, so, then, well, whereas, while, in conclusion, in contrast, such as, as a result, as well as, in regard to

Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments

Performance on Part of Speech: To be verbs : 23.0 13.1623246493 175% => OK Auxiliary verbs: 9.0 7.85571142285 115% => OK Conjunction : 27.0 10.4138276553 259% => Less conjunction wanted Relative clauses : 7.0 7.30460921844 96% => OK Pronoun: 25.0 24.0651302605 104% => OK Preposition: 85.0 41.998997996 202% => Less preposition wanted. Nominalization: 13.0 8.3376753507 156% => OK

Performance on vocabulary words: No of characters: 2928.0 1615.20841683 181% => OK No of words: 593.0 315.596192385 188% => Less content wanted. Chars per words: 4.93760539629 5.12529762239 96% => OK Fourth root words length: 4.93473315629 4.20363070211 117% => OK Word Length SD: 2.80606271889 2.80592935109 100% => OK Unique words: 320.0 176.041082164 182% => OK Unique words percentage: 0.539629005059 0.561755894193 96% => OK syllable_count: 922.5 506.74238477 182% => OK avg_syllables_per_word: 1.6 1.60771543086 100% => OK

A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by: Pronoun: 7.0 5.43587174349 129% => OK Article: 8.0 2.52805611222 316% => Less articles wanted as sentence beginning. Subordination: 1.0 2.10420841683 48% => OK Conjunction: 7.0 0.809619238477 865% => Less conjunction wanted as sentence beginning. Preposition: 8.0 4.76152304609 168% => OK

Performance on sentences: How many sentences: 26.0 16.0721442886 162% => OK Sentence length: 22.0 20.2975951904 108% => OK Sentence length SD: 52.3571174863 49.4020404114 106% => OK Chars per sentence: 112.615384615 106.682146367 106% => OK Words per sentence: 22.8076923077 20.7667163134 110% => OK Discourse Markers: 5.57692307692 7.06120827912 79% => OK Paragraphs: 5.0 4.38176352705 114% => OK Language errors: 4.0 5.01903807615 80% => OK Sentences with positive sentiment : 8.0 8.67935871743 92% => OK Sentences with negative sentiment : 7.0 3.9879759519 176% => OK Sentences with neutral sentiment: 11.0 3.4128256513 322% => Less facts, knowledge or examples wanted. What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?

Coherence and Cohesion: Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.436164333741 0.244688304435 178% => OK Sentence topic coherence: 0.131977511348 0.084324248473 157% => OK Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.134185594745 0.0667982634062 201% => The coherence between sentences is low. Paragraph topic coherence: 0.29122074026 0.151304729494 192% => OK Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.169629360927 0.056905535591 298% => More connections among paragraphs wanted.

Essay readability: automated_readability_index: 13.2 13.0946893788 101% => OK flesch_reading_ease: 49.15 50.2224549098 98% => OK smog_index: 8.8 7.44779559118 118% => OK flesch_kincaid_grade: 11.9 11.3001002004 105% => OK coleman_liau_index: 11.67 12.4159519038 94% => OK dale_chall_readability_score: 8.8 8.58950901804 102% => OK difficult_words: 153.0 78.4519038076 195% => OK linsear_write_formula: 11.5 9.78957915832 117% => OK gunning_fog: 10.8 10.1190380762 107% => OK text_standard: 12.0 10.7795591182 111% => OK What are above readability scores?

--------------------- Rates: 61.797752809 out of 100 Scores by essay e-grader: 5.5 Out of 9 --------------------- Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.

IELTS Scores
Life Skills Test
Find a Test Centre
Alternatives to IELTS
General Training
Academic Word List
Topic Vocabulary
Collocation
Phrasal Verbs
Writing eBooks
Reading eBook
All eBooks & Courses
Sample Essays

Working From Home Essay

In this working from home essay for IELTS you have to discuss whether you think that working from home has more advantages or disadvantages.

This was a recent question from the test. Take a look at the essay question:

These days, many people have their own computer and telephone, so it is quite easy for them to do their job at home.

Does working at home have more advantages or more disadvantages?

In this essay you have the following task:

Does working at home have more advantages or disadvantages?

This suggests that there are both pros and cons of working from home as you are asked which there are more of.

So in your answer to this working from home essay it's better to discuss both but write more about the side that you think there are more of so that the essay content reflects your opinion.

Try then to think of one reason for one side of the argument and two for the other side.

Organisation

It's usual in academic writing to start with the opinion that is the one you don't support so start with that one.

So based on this, the sample working from home essay is organised as follows:

Have more control of time ( advantage)
Loneliness (disadvantage)
Less influence in the company ( disadvantage)

So in this case, the writer thinks of course that there are more disadvantages and this should be clearly stated when you give your opinion in the introduction and / or conclusion.

Now take a look at the model answer.

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own experience or knowledge.

Write at least 250 words.

Model Answer:

In the present age it is common for people to work from home because of advances in technology. On balance, I would argue that this has more negative impacts than positive.

One advantage of working from home is the freedom it provides. Home workers can organise their work around their home life as they can stop or start work as they please, and thus if, for example, they have children, they can easily arrange to take them and pick them up from school. They can also undertake any other tasks that they need to do during the day, such as doing the laundry or shopping, and then finish work later. Overall then, employees have more control over their lives.

Despite these positive factors, however, there are a number of disadvantages. The first of these is the fact that those who work at home nearly all the time will not be mixing with colleagues. When people are at work, they are always surrounded by others, but at home, an employee is likely to be alone most the time. This may lead to feelings of loneliness due to a lack of interaction.

Another drawback is the fact that one may have less influence in the company. It is often the case that important decisions arise on the spur of the moment as unexpected issues arise. If an employee is not there, others may have to step in. If this occurs on a regular basis, the employees contribution to the company may decline, meaning a higher probability of getting overlooked for things such as promotion.

In conclusion, although there are positives and negatives related to working from home, there are more negative impacts. Employees should therefore consider carefully whether working from home is the best choice.

(293 Words)

This working from home essay would get a high score as it meets the requirements of the task, which is to discuss the pros and cons of working from home and state which there are more of.

It is also coherent and cohesive, with paragraphing used to good effect and good linking within and between sentences.

There is a good range of lexis (vocabulary) in the essay and it is used accurately with good collocations.

There is also a good mix of complex sentences and structures and again the grammatical accuracy is very good.

<<< Back

Next >>>

More Advantages & Disadvantages Essays:

Age Discrimination at Work Essay: Are new laws needed?

This IELTS Age Discrimination at Work Essay is a real question from the test that appeared in August 2018. View a model answer and get tips and strategies on how to answer the question.

Model Traffic Problems Essay for the IELTS Teset

Traffic problems essay: This is a traffic problems essay and the specific topic is the taxing of car drivers in order to reduce these problems. You are asked to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of introducing such a policy to tackle the issue.

Online Fraud Essay: The Pros and Cons of Personal Information Online

This online fraud essay is about the way in which people place their personal information on the internet and whether this is a positive or negative development.

Oil and Gas Essay: Should we drill for new sources in remote places?

This IELTS oil and gas essay discusses how demand for these fuels is increasing and thus whether we should find new sources in remote and untouched areas.

Essay Locally Grown Produce: Should people buy from local farms?

IELTS sample essay locally grown produce. A recent question in the exam asked candidates to discuss whether only locally produced food should be consumed.

Food Additives Essay: Is it dangerous to place additives in food?

Food additives essay: This is basically an advantages and disadvantages essay. You need to be careful with the word ‘outweigh’ as this often confuses students.

Playing Computer Games Essay: What are the pros and cons for children?

Computer games essay: This page analyzes a computer games essay and also notes how you can make good use of the question to plan and organize your essay. You have to be careful with this essay as there is a second part to the question that is not about the pros and cons.

Peer Pressure and Young People Essay

This peer pressure and young people essay for IELTS is an advantage disadvantage type question, focusing on whether peer pressure is negative or positive.

Decreasing House Sizes Essay

In this decreasing house sizes essay for IELTS you have to discuss the pros and cons of smaller house sizes and gardens.

Model IELTS Essay: Are tablets and computers good for children?

This IELTS essay question is about whether tablets and computers are good for children. It is an essay question where you have to assess whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. You should make sure you discuss both sides of the issue.

Internet & Cell Phone Essay: Do the pros outweigh the cons?

In this Internet and Cell Phone Essay you have to discuss the pros and cons of the ways in which people relate to each other socially using phones & internet.

Any comments or questions about this page or about IELTS? Post them here. Your email will not be published or shared.

Before you go...

Check out the ielts buddy band 7+ ebooks & courses.

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

Click on the HTML link code below.
Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.

Band 7+ eBooks

"I think these eBooks are FANTASTIC!!! I know that's not academic language, but it's the truth!"

Linda, from Italy, Scored Band 7.5

IELTS Modules:

Other resources:.

All Lessons
Band Score Calculator
Writing Feedback
Speaking Feedback
Teacher Resources
Free Downloads
Recent Essay Exam Questions
Books for IELTS Prep
Useful Links

Recent Articles

Fillers for IELTS Speaking: Avoid 'Eh', Uhm', 'You know'.

Apr 27, 24 05:48 AM

Apr 06, 24 10:22 AM

Latest IELTS Writing Topics - Recent Exam Questions

Apr 04, 24 02:36 AM

Important pages

IELTS Writing IELTS Speaking IELTS Listening IELTS Reading All Lessons Vocabulary Academic Task 1 Academic Task 2 Practice Tests

Connect with us

IELTS is a registered trademark of University of Cambridge, the British Council, and IDP Education Australia. This site and its owners are not affiliated, approved or endorsed by the University of Cambridge ESOL, the British Council, and IDP Education Australia.

Home — Essay Samples — Life — Work-Life Balance — Working from Home: Pros, Cons, and Strategies for Success

Working from Home: Pros, Cons, and Strategies for Success

Categories: Work-Life Balance Workplace

About this sample

Words: 660 |

Published: Sep 7, 2023

Words: 660 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

Advantages of working from home, disadvantages of working from home, strategies for success in working from home.

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Verified writer

Expert in: Life

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

4 pages / 1774 words

1 pages / 515 words

2 pages / 1046 words

2 pages / 790 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Work-Life Balance

The eternal debate between prioritizing personal life and professional endeavors gives rise to the age-old question of whether one should work to live or live to work. In a world where the boundaries between work and life are [...]

College life can be overwhelming, with demanding academic schedules, extracurricular activities, and social commitments. As a college student, finding a balance between academics and personal life is crucial for overall [...]

Compensation is a critical component of an organization's overall strategy for attracting, retaining, and motivating employees. Two primary forms of compensation are intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic compensation refers to the [...]

Robbins, S.P., Judge, T.A. & Campbell, T.T. (2017). Organizational Behavior (17th ed.). Pearson Education, Inc.Huffington, A. (2014). Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-being, Wisdom, [...]

How many people work long hours in the day whether it’s doing homework and studying or working an actual job? A study done in Lancet Medical Journal studied about 600,000 individuals and found that those that worked long periods [...]

In recent years, work-life balance (WLB) has emerged as a definitive concern amongst employers, trade unions, academics and policy makers. In this competitive world the working women have grabbed the attention on them because [...]

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

Instructions Followed To The Letter
Deadlines Met At Every Stage
Unique And Plagiarism Free

Entertainment
Environment
Information Science and Technology
Social Issues

Home Essay Samples Business Hard Work

Working From Home VS Working In An Office

*minimum deadline

Cite this Essay

To export a reference to this article please select a referencing style below

Quality Assurance
Mcdonald's
Business Success

Related Essays

Need writing help?

You can always rely on us no matter what type of paper you need

*No hidden charges

100% Unique Essays

Absolutely Confidential

Money Back Guarantee

By clicking “Send Essay”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement. We will occasionally send you account related emails

You can also get a UNIQUE essay on this or any other topic

Thank you! We’ll contact you as soon as possible.

11 Pros and Cons of Work from Home: Exploring the Advantages and Disadvantages

This advantages and disadvantages of work from home essay will explain the pros and cons of working from home.

Discover the advantages of flexibility and increased productivity, alongside the challenges of isolation and blurred work-life boundaries.

Gain valuable insights into the work-from-home phenomenon and make informed decisions about your own professional journey.

Dive into the advantages and disadvantages of remote work, and unlock the key considerations for finding the right balance in this engaging blog post.

Let’s dive into the advantages and disadvantages of work from home essay.

Ah, the glorious freedom of working from home!

Picture this: You roll out of bed, grab a cup of joe, and dive into your work without ever facing the dreaded commute or office small talk.

It’s a dream come true for many of us, and it’s not just about the convenience of staying in our pajamas all day (although that’s definitely a perk).

In this part of the article, we’ll explore the numerous benefits of working from home that go beyond the comfy attire, showing you why embracing the pajama professional life might be the best decision you’ll ever make.

advantages and disadvantages of work from home essay

https://unsplash.com/photos/g9KFpAfQ5bc

From bidding farewell to the dreaded commute to enjoying increased productivity, improved work-life balance, and even saving money, the perks of working from home are undeniable. It’s a lifestyle that grants you the freedom and flexibility to design your work environment and schedule tailored to your preferences and needs.

So, if you’re still on the fence about embracing the pajama professional life, consider the advantages we’ve explored.

The absence of a daily commute allows you to reclaim valuable time, reduce stress, and engage in activities that truly matter to you.

The ability to focus in a distraction-free environment leads to heightened productivity and a sense of accomplishment.

Integrating work and personal commitments seamlessly ensures a healthier work-life balance, nurturing your overall well-being.

Moreover, remote work not only benefits you personally but also has a positive impact on the environment. Reduced transportation results in cost savings and a smaller carbon footprint, making it a win-win for your wallet and the planet.

Of course, working from home has its challenges. Loneliness, the need for self-discipline, and potentially blurred boundaries between work and personal life require careful navigation. However, these challenges can be overcome with the right strategies, such as establishing a dedicated workspace, maintaining regular communication with colleagues , and setting clear boundaries.

More about the disadvantages of working from home later.

In recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift towards remote work, with many companies recognizing its benefits and embracing hybrid work models. As the world becomes more interconnected, technology advancements make remote collaboration seamless, enabling professionals to thrive in their homes.

Advantages of Working from Home Essay

Say goodbye to the commute.

Let’s face it—commuting can be a soul-sucking experience. Spending hours stuck in traffic or crammed into a crowded train is not exactly the ideal way to start or end your workday.

When you work from home, you bid farewell to the daily commute and say hello to extra time and reduced stress. Imagine reclaiming and using those lost hours for more productive or enjoyable activities. Whether catching up on sleep, exercising, or simply spending quality time with your loved ones, the lack of commuting opens up a world of possibilities.

Increased Productivity

Working from home offers a prime environment for enhanced productivity. You can focus on your tasks without interruptions without the usual office distractions. No more impromptu meetings or colleagues popping by your desk for a chat about the latest reality TV show. Instead, you can create a dedicated workspace tailored to your needs, free from distractions.

Moreover, the flexibility of remote work allows you to structure your day in a way that suits your preferences and energy levels. If you’re an early bird, you can tackle important tasks in the morning; if you’re a night owl, you can burn the midnight oil. You’ll accomplish more in less time by aligning your work hours with peak productivity periods, giving you a sense of achievement and a better work-life balance.

Let’s further explore the pros and cons in this advantages and disadvantages of work from home essay.

Improved Work-Life Balance

One of the most significant advantages of working from home is achieving a healthier work-life balance. Traditional office settings often blur the lines between professional and personal life, making switching off from work-related stress and responsibilities challenging.

When your office is just a few steps from your living room, you have greater control over your schedule. You can integrate personal commitments, such as attending family events, exercising, or pursuing hobbies, into your workday. This flexibility allows you to design a routine that aligns with your individual needs, leading to increased job satisfaction and overall well-being.

Furthermore, remote work saves precious time that would otherwise be spent commuting or getting ready for the office. This newfound time can be utilized for self-care, pursuing personal passions, or engaging in activities that bring you joy.

The result? You feel more fulfilled and energized, ready to enthusiastically tackle professional and personal challenges.

Cost and Environmental Benefits

Working from home can be kind to both your wallet and the environment. When you’re no longer commuting, you save on transportation costs, whether it’s fuel for your car or public transportation fares. Additionally, remote work eliminates the need for a separate work wardrobe, saving you money on professional attire.

Moreover, remote work significantly reduces carbon emissions associated with commuting. Fewer cars on the road translate to cleaner air and a smaller carbon footprint. By embracing remote jobs, you contribute to a more sustainable future and help protect the planet.

Also, one of the small benefits of working from home is that you can spend more time with your pets. Sometimes your dog or cat can feel lonely and that you don’t spend enough time with them. Remote work allows getting to know your pet closer and having quality time together. Basepaws review can also help you to know your pet better.

So, whether you’re a freelancer, a remote employee, or considering negotiating a flexible work arrangement with your employer, the benefits of working from home are waiting for you to embrace them. Say goodbye to the mundane office routine and embrace the freedom, flexibility, and personal fulfillment that come with the pajama professional life.

https://unsplash.com/photos/FHnnjk1Yj7Y

The Disadvantages of Working from Home: Balancing Flexibility with Challenges

Let’s continue our advantages and disadvantages of work from home essay by exploring the disadvantages of working from home.

The concept of remote work has gained significant traction in recent years, revolutionizing the traditional office environment.

While working from home offers numerous benefits, such as increased flexibility and reduced commuting time, it is important to recognize that it also comes with its fair share of disadvantages.

In this part of the article, we will explore the potential downsides of working from home, shedding light on the challenges individuals may face in this ever-evolving professional landscape.

Isolation and Lack of Social Interaction

One of the most common drawbacks of working from home is the feeling of isolation and limited social interaction. When employees are physically distanced from their colleagues, they miss out on the spontaneous conversations, brainstorming sessions, and the overall camaraderie that can foster creativity and collaboration. The absence of face-to-face interactions may lead to a sense of disconnection, which can impact job satisfaction and mental well-being.

Blurred Boundaries Between Work and Personal Life

Working from home often blurs the line between professional and personal life, making it challenging for individuals to maintain a healthy work-life balance. With no clear separation between the office space and home environment, it becomes tempting to work longer hours, leading to burnout and decreased productivity. Moreover, the lack of physical boundaries may result in constant interruptions from family members or the inability to switch off work-related thoughts, thereby adding to stress levels.

Distractions and Lack of Focus

The home environment can be full of distractions, ranging from household chores to family responsibilities. The presence of tempting diversions, such as household tasks, television, or social media , can significantly impact an individual’s ability to concentrate on their work tasks. Procrastination becomes easier, and maintaining focus becomes a constant challenge, potentially hampering productivity and overall performance.

Limited Access to Resources and Technology

While technological advancements have made remote work more feasible, it is undeniable that not all employees have equal access to the necessary resources and technology.

In some cases, employees may lack a stable internet connection, have outdated equipment, or face other technological limitations. These disparities can create barriers to effective communication, collaboration, and access to vital tools or software, thus hindering productivity and professional growth.

Reduced Career Development Opportunities

Working remotely can limit an individual’s exposure to various career development opportunities. In a traditional office setting, employees have the advantage of face-to-face interactions, networking events, and informal learning experiences. Remote workers may miss out on these crucial avenues for professional growth, potentially impacting their chances of career advancement and skill development.

Strained Communication and Collaboration

Despite the advancements in communication technology, remote work can still present challenges when it comes to effective collaboration.

Remote employees heavily rely on digital communication tools, such as email, instant messaging, and video conferencing. However, misinterpretations, technical glitches, and limited non-verbal cues can hamper effective communication, leading to misunderstandings and reduced team cohesion.

Building trust and maintaining strong relationships with colleagues and supervisors can be more challenging when working remotely.

Impact on Mental Health and Well-being

The work-from-home setup can have a significant impact on an individual’s mental health and overall well-being. The lack of social interaction, feelings of isolation, and increased blurring of boundaries can lead to heightened stress levels, loneliness, and even depression.

Additionally, the absence of a physically separate workspace may contribute to difficulties in disconnecting from work, preventing individuals from fully unwinding and recharging during their personal time.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Work from Home Essay: FAQ

What are advantages and disadvantages of work from home.

Advantages: No commute, work in your pajamas. Disadvantages: Lack of digital resources, feeling of isolation, home life and work life becomes blurred.

What are disadvantages of working from home?

Lack of digital resources, feeling of isolation, home life and work life becomes blurred.

Conclusion: Advantages and Disadvantages of Work from Home Essay

While working from home offers undeniable benefits, it is crucial to acknowledge and address the disadvantages that come along with it.

The isolation, blurred boundaries, distractions, limited resources, reduced career development opportunities, strained communication, and potential impact on mental health highlight the need for proactive measures to counter these challenges.

Employers and employees must work together to find solutions that foster connectivity, establish clear boundaries, and promote a healthy work-life balance. By recognizing and addressing the disadvantages, we can strive towards a more balanced and productive remote work experience.

As you can see, working from home offers numerous advantages beyond the absence of a dress code. Remote work has become a preferred choice for many professionals thanks to eliminating the commute to improve productivity, achieving a better work-life balance, and contributing to a greener planet.

So, go ahead and embrace the perks of working from home. Your pajamas will thank you! However, working from home offers many benefits that extend far beyond lounging in your favorite PJs.

To recap: The advantages and disadvantages of working from home bring both opportunities and challenges to individuals and organizations alike.

On the positive side, remote work offers flexibility, increased productivity, and reduced commuting time. It allows individuals to create a better work-life balance and offers opportunities for those with physical disabilities or caregiving responsibilities. Moreover, it enables companies to tap into a global talent pool and save costs on office space.

However, there are also downsides to consider. Working from home can blur the boundaries between work and personal life, leading to longer working hours and burnout. The lack of face-to-face interaction may hamper collaboration and team bonding, affecting creativity and innovation. Additionally, the absence of a dedicated workspace can create distractions and hinder productivity.

Ultimately, the decision to embrace remote work depends on individual preferences, job requirements, and the nature of the organization. It is crucial to strike a balance between the advantages and disadvantages, implementing strategies to overcome the challenges while leveraging the benefits.

Whether it’s a hybrid model or a fully remote setup, clear communication, efficient task management, and regular check-ins become crucial to maintaining a productive and connected workforce.

Overall, the rise of work from home represents a significant shift in the way we work. It offers unique opportunities for individuals and organizations to adapt to the changing landscape of the modern workplace.

By carefully weighing the advantages and disadvantages presented in this advantages and disadvantages of work from home essay and implementing effective strategies, we can harness the potential of remote work while mitigating its challenges, ultimately fostering a more flexible, efficient, and balanced work environment.

Readers, please share this advantages and disadvantages of work from home essay so people considering abandoning the 9 to 5 traditional workday discover this post.

This post was contributed and made possible by the support of our readers.

Work From Home vs Work From Office: Which is Better?

Cats vs Dogs, Cricket vs Football, Working out vs Netflix; everyone has their own preferences and reasons behind those preferences vary from person to person. The preference comparison that has taken the corporate world by storm, especially in 2022, is work from home vs work from office- which working environment brings out the maximum potential of the worker and the organization

This debate or group discussion has been around ever since the world started shifting towards digital technology as its primary mode of consuming, with proponents of both sides providing conflicting yet sensible arguments for their stance. Those who prefer work-from-home (WFH) setups argue that it gives their routines some much-needed flexibility, while supporters of the work-from-office school of thought propound that the entire point of an office environment is to create an atmosphere that encourages effort and promotes teamwork.

However, this discussion is no longer one that is open to deliberations at present. Thanks to the pandemic that gripped the world, work from home vs work from office seem like a redundant discussion as the former has become the norm for most companies. The question that is now being posed, is this- which method is going to be adopted moving forward

Work From Home vs Work From Office: Which One to Choose

This article attempts to evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of both and give you a balanced perspective on what the future of work culture is going to look like.

Work From Home vs Work From Office: Face Off Between The Two

Picture this: youve woken up at around 9am and have been employed in your current position for a couple of months now. Your work hours begin at 9:30, but the commute is going to take at least an hour. The next image that pops up in your mind is that of a disgruntled employer who is reevaluating his decision to hire you, isnt it

Working From Office: Advantages & Disadvantages

Despite the many merits of working from home, the fact remains that the office space is sacred. Well, let us continue to look at work from home vs work from office gd and know more.

Advantages of Working From An Office

Rather than simply providing an isolated space where employees contribute towards the growth of an organization, the importance of offices lie in the kind of output they generate:

1. Communication

Face-to-face communication is the clearest and most productive form of communication in a corporate setting. Its not only beneficial when planning for business, it also strengthens relationships and rapport with other employees. The kind of relationship-building that happens when you sit next to someone or bump into each other at the coffee machine cannot be found anywhere else. The chain of command, the daily tasks that you need to fulfill- they all fall into a seamless communication structure which identifies and corrects shortcomings almost as soon as they are detected and ensures that only the best output is generated.

2. Management

Every company has a definite structure which is indisputable, no matter the circumstances under which one works. Every employee is answerable to a higher authority and it is through meticulous coordination and feedback that the ideal output is created by an organization. This cycle is only possible when the manager is on the floor with the workers, keeping an eye on what is going on, spotting errors as soon as they are made, giving precise directions to a struggling employee and regulating the overall workflow. The moment things go digital, management becomes a hassle, and work is more often than not either subpar or delayed.

3. Office Space Needs

Working from home can cause a lack of business inventory or storage, leading to space constraints. Renting out office spaces can be beneficial for small businesses in order to grow their business. Especially, coworking spaces because, they offer varied office spaces at affordable prices. The small businesses can focus on scaling their business in manifolds, considering the easy availability of office inventory. The productivity also increases when you are in an office setup that heavily inspires innovation and creativity.

Disadvantages of Working From Office

While there are certain obvious reasons to keep going to your offices, there are obvious disadvantages as well.

1. Rigid Organizational Rules

In an office setup, you get to decide very little. Your work hours are fixed, your commute is fixed, and your scope of work is more or less predictable as well. Working from an office is all about following a strict office timetable. No matter your personal problems or that are circumstances working against you, come rain or sun, you must be at your desk every day before your superiors notice a delay.

The ever-mounting pressure only serves to weaken your mental and physical health, making you more susceptible to a burnout.

2. Work Environment

One of the key aspects of the work from home vs work from office debate is the kind of work environment the organization fosters. It is no surprise that to survive in a corporate setting, one needs to have skin as thick as hide. Your work environment has the power to make or break your productivity-streak and motivation.

Employees dont have much of a choice in or control over their work environment within an office setting. Whether it is an annoying co-worker or other logistical issues, you just have to go along with it. At home, one has the option to optimise their workspace as per their requirements and preferences.

Articles you may like:

Top 7 free online meeting tools to manage your work remotely
11 best work from home jobs in India that pay you well
11 best apps to stay productive and organised while working remotely

Working From Home: Advantages & Disadvantages

Let us discuss the Pros and Cons of Work From Home.

Advantages of Working From Home

There are many such scenarios where a work from home setup is beneficial for both the employer and the employee:

1. Reduced/No Commute

One of the major positives of working from home is the elimination of commute. On an average, people in India spend at least 2 hours in a day, traveling to and from work. This not only wastes time they could otherwise be spending productively, it also hampers work-life balance greatly.

If a person works a regular 9-to-5 (or 6) job and is spending 7% of their day in traffic, its natural for them to feel like they dont have a life outside of work. However, when your work can be done from the comfort of your couch, it doesnt seem as cumbersome as before.

2. Better Work-Life Balance

It is extremely important to realize that work is not the be-all-and-end-all of things. There is a life that you have outside work, but sitting in an office for almost half of your day makes that seem like a lie. Moreover, a rigid schedule packed with work can cause employees to burn out rather quickly.

Most employers who provide their employees with the option to work from home also give them the flexibility to choose their working hours, which means that workers can start and end their day as they choose, as long as their work is complete and leads to strong outcomes. This control over your work schedule is invaluable when it comes to attending to the needs of your personal life.

3. Saves Money and Reduces Carbon Footprint

Working from home cuts costs for both sides- the employee is not required to spend money on traveling, food and other miscellaneous costs they occur throughout a working day; meanwhile, corporations save big on energy spendings and other related expenses which would have been unavoidable in an up-and-running office setup.

While these steps are a boon for your wallet, they are also a blessing for the planet- reduced commute implies fewer vehicles on roads, which inadvertently contributes towards making our environment cleaner; a sore need of the hour.

Disadvantages of Working From Home

So there are some serious merits to working from home. However, it is not without its challenges:

1. Teamwork and Organizational Growth

By its very nature, working from home is a hindrance to teamwork. To make things easier for employees, work schedules are usually fragmented according to their job descriptions and as long as their daily quotas are met, things can flow smoothly. However, a single obstacle can set the entire team off-track.

Coordinating with multiple people over the phone or via video calls, while possible, is an inefficient way of tackling issues because it does not allow face-to-face interactions. It takes a lot of time to get ideas across for approval over a Zoom call where 10 other people are competing for screen time. Thus, Working from Home can dampen teamwork and lead to disarray.

2. Productivity Trap

Popular polls will tell you that a majority of people feel like they are much more productive when working from home. However, but this feeling is only translated into actions when you have a set routine- which is integral for maintaining a steady stream of output. While the trappings of home are comforting, that very aspect can turn out to be counter-productive.

Procrastination can blossom unbridled at home, or worse, you might find yourself overexerting yourself. Working by yourself can also cripple your creativity. Thus, working from home doesnt always guarantee results.

3. Lack Of Office Equipment

Nearly 33% of the people who work from home also dont have the necessary access to office equipment such as high-speed internet, fax/copier machine or a high-end laptop which also adds to their distress while working from home as they have a hard time replicating their work environment at home.

Work From Home vs Work From Office: Which is Better

The work from home vs work from office debate is one that perplexes even those who benefit from either school of thought, because the merits of the other are too lucrative to overlook. However, we believe the answer might lie in striking a balance between the two. The following paragraph would work the best for work from home vs work from office group discussion.

Dividing the working week into days where employees work from home and days where they have to report to the office can not only maintain the positives of a work-from-home environment, it can eliminate the stifling of creativity and flow of work in an organization. On days that employees visit the office, brainstorming and meetings can run asunder and these ideas can be translated into the finished output at home. This gives both employers and employees the opportunity to have a desirable work-life balance, and provides the ideal system of work optimizer for the future.

FAQs on Work From Home Vs Work From Office

The frequently asked questions on work from home or work from office are given below:

Is working from home more productive than working in an office It is very difficult to estimate employees productivity when they are working in different environments. However, many research studies have shown that people who work home are more productive than the people who work from Office. Hence, most of the people choose work from home to increase their productivty which comes with benefits such as enhanced flexibility, stress-free etc.,

Is work from home better than work from office Both work from home and work from office has its own advantages and disadvantages. If you wish to cut-down the commute time and increase productivity, then work from home is better. However, if you focus on better collabaration then working from office is better. Hence work from home vs work from office has its own set of pros and cons.

Why is working in office better Working from office is better, if you want to collabrate with your collegaues. Working from office allows their employees to collect or access the data as qucikly as they can.

What are the pros and cons of working in an office The pros of working in an office include the ability to collaborate with colleagues in person, access to resources and technology, and a shared sense of camaraderie. The cons include needing to commute, being distracted by office chatter, and having less flexibility in scheduling.

How do I do a group discussion on work from home vs work from office A great way to facilitate a group discussion on work from home versus work from office is to start by having participants list out the pros and cons of each option. Have them discuss the benefits and drawbacks with each other, then use a collaborative brainstorming session to come up with ideas on how to make the most of either option. You could also refer to relevant research and studies on the topic to provide more context for the discussion.

Top 9 Disadvantages Of Working From Home That Everyone Should Know
Top 11 Tips To Improve Work From Home Productivity

About the author.

Dipanjana Mukherjee

Start typing and press enter to search.

More From Forbes

If you work from home, here’s 6 tips to create the perfect wfh office.

Share to Facebook
Share to Twitter
Share to Linkedin

The right workspace is comfortable, personal, and ergonomic.

The widespread work from home movement was born of necessity during COVID-19. According to the U.S. Census Bureau , between 2019 and 2021, the number of people primarily working from home tripled — from 9 million to 27.6 million. Years later, working from home continues to be a way of life with some still at home on a full-time basis, and millions more engaging in a hybrid model, dividing their time between home and office work.

Working remotely provides the opportunity to live almost anywhere, allowing renters and homeowners alike to move out of expensive cities and into more affordable regions — and some buyers are even rejecting suburban McMansions in favor of minimalist, simple-sized homes that require less upkeep and provide more peace and quiet.

Another advantage of working from home: commute time savings. A report by the National Bureau of Economic Research reveals that globally, people who work from save an average of 72 minutes a day that would have been spent commuting (in the U.S. the average daily commute time is 55 minutes). Working from home also results in less wear and tear on vehicles, and reduces clothing costs – and this extra money will come in handy now that they need a six-figure salary to comfortably afford a home .

Admittedly, some companies are beckoning their employees back to work, even though a report by Hubstaff reveals that remote workers experience fewer interruptions and spend more time on focused tasks, compared to office workers (22.75 hours/week versus 18.6 hours/week).

Photo courtesy of

WhatsApp Brand New iPhone Feature Just Launched That s Much Easier To Use

Earth s new second moon is as big as the statue of liberty and scientists just found its origin, new apple id password reset issue hitting iphone ipad and macbook users.

A home office, or a space that can be used for a home office, is now a feature that both homeowners and potential buyers consider an advantage. I previously covered the most popular home projects , according to the 2024 Houzz and Home Study, and in 2023, homeowners spent 6.6 months planning how they would renovate their home offices, and an additional 3 months on actual home office construction/remodeling. On average, survey respondents spent $2,000 renovating a space to convert it into a home office.

“Working from home can be super relaxing — sometimes even a little too relaxing,” says New York City interior designer Emma Beryl . However, she tells me that creating the perfect WFH space can help you stay motivated and get your work done.

But this entails more than just a cool design and stylish items to make your home office look good. “Proper home ergonomics can help prevent degenerative disc problems at L5 from prolonged sitting with a poor work setup" explains Dr. Allen Conrad at the Montgomery County Chiropractic Center in North Wales, Pennsylvania. "With a proper ergonomic home workspace setup, you can help prevent degenerative spine conditions which could lead to painful sciatica,” he says.

Whether you want to renovate, or just furnish and decorate your office space, these are some helpful tips to create the perfect WFH environment.

If you’re building or renovating your home, Jay Kallos, SVP of architecture at Ashton Woods in Atlanta, Georgia, recommends putting the home office in a quiet, remote part of your home. “In new construction, you can add sound insulation to aid in creating a quiet sanctuary,” he says. However, Kallos advises against using a barn door if you need to keep noise out of the office (although it’s fine if noise is not a problem).

One of his personal preferences is to use daylight to help keep track of time, but window placement is crucial. “If your office is in the front of your home, I recommend a window on the side or rear of the office – but not in the front, because you could be distracted by what is going on in front of your house.”

Ariana Lovato, owner and principal designer at Honeycomb Home Design in Arroyo Grande, California, agrees that distractions should be kept to a minimum. “The best case scenario would be to dedicate a spare bedroom to your work space so you can close the doors and have privacy for phone calls and meetings, but for most, space is limited, and usually work from home happens in a small corner of a living room.”

Design Look

But if you have space to create separation, Leigh Spicher, Orlando, Florida-based national director of design studios for Ashton Woods , tells me that similar to the concept that bedrooms are for sleeping (and other stuff) only, home office spaces are for work only.

“Thoughtful design can ensure this space is free from the stress of mixing work with family time,” she says. “Move the home office out of a secondary bedroom or the dining room into a dedicated space that is for work only.” And Spicher likes a space with doors that you can close either when you’re working or when you’ve closed up shop for the day.

Christopher Grubb is an interior designer and the founder of Beverly Hills-based Arch-Interiors Design Group. “The majority of the time, we approach the design of a workspace to have a much different look from the home to create the psychological effect that you have ‘gone to work,’” he tells me.

Before the pandemic, Grubb says the emphasis in a workspace was to create as little clutter as possible, based on the theory that without a lot of stuff, people could focus and not be distracted. “But now, we have exceptions of the clients that want dramatic wallpaper that they say gives them energy for the workday, and an appreciation of accessories they can look at while on calls, which make them feel happy and more relaxed.”

Also, during the pandemic, some people worked outdoors in the fresh air and post-pandemic, exterior workspaces are still popular. “For them, we install in-deck waterproof power and data outlets underneath an outdoor dining table used as a desk,” Grubb says. “We also install outdoor waterproof outlets with USB connections at outdoor cooking areas or seating zones, which are also ideal for a guest who wants to charge a device.” In fact, his firm has even used motorized outdoor umbrellas that include lighting and heat at the dining table ‘desks.’

Functionality

You want a stylish office, but functionality is also important. “The Europeans included it for years, but the American market now appreciates efficient and versatile organizational details in drawers and in cabinetry,” Grubb says. For example, he says printers and shredders can be hidden in furniture with slide-out shelves.

“If you do have a built-in, make sure to get extra shelves, which provides the possibility to store smaller items, instead of having objects stacked awkwardly high because of fewer shelves.” And if you don’t use the extra shelves, Grubb says you can just put them in the bottom of the cabinet, but this is much easier than trying to order additional shelves later.

Beryl also likes the idea of furniture as storage. “I recommend a cabinet or credenza for storage options to keep clutter off your work surface so it can remain stylish and organized,” she says.

Interior designer Tama Bell in Sebastopol, CA, tells me that she likes to use a large desk or table with beautiful lines for the main work station. “There is nothing that makes working from home harder than not enough space to spread out.” Bell often uses an L-shaped configuration with some type of console with file storage. “I find that when it is easy to file as one works, it helps to keep things looking tidy and functioning well, and it also allows for a second surface for your computer or laptop.”

In addition, she likes a pair of tall bookcases, within easy access of the desk area. “This is used to store all the necessary working items that one needs, but to also decorate or style with photos, books and accessories.” Bell says that having a space that is personal and beautiful makes working from home a happy necessity.

According to Grubb (and confirmed by many awful virtual meetings), most workspaces are not conducive for audio and video calls and they also tend to have an echo. “A go-to is an area rug on tile or wood floors, which provides one layer that absorbs sound.” He’s also using more decorative acoustical panels with a thick felt-like quality, and they’re available in solids, shapes or a material that looks like it’s woven, and other dramatic effects. “The panels come in a variety of colors, and the acoustical paint is white, and any color can be painted over it.” Grubb explains that blue tones tend to work best behind the person on a call. “It is a peaceful color, gender-neutral, and gives the viewer a nicer feeling than a cold gray.”

Here’s another tip: Grubb reveals that the more soft surfaces you have (including upholstered furniture or drapery), the more sound absorption in the room. “One client even opens closet doors that have clothes hanging in them to absorb noise when they are on calls,” he says.

Lighting is also an important WHF office component, as the right light can help to prevent eye strain. “Light rings are a must, and most rooms have downlights or a chandelier as the light source,” Grubb says. “Put all of your lighting in a room on a dimmer to control the intensity and avoid a ‘hotspot’ on top of your head during a video call.” If you have windows, he says the natural light is excellent for its wellness quality. “And we like using motorized shades that are on a remote control and operate from a battery pack to give you additional control of the natural lighting coming in.”

Beryl recommends placing the home office in a space by a natural light source if possible. “You want to be able to choose if you close the curtains or blinds to limit light, or keep them open to let the sunlight in,” she says. “If you work in a dark space, the second you step out into a room with sunlight, your eyes are going to feel tired.”

Lovato adds that it’s important to invest in a comfortable chair and a large monitor so you can work comfortably. Dr. Allen Conrad at the Montgomery County Chiropractic Center in North Wales, Pennsylvania agrees, noting that the right ergonomic workspace can lead to reduced pain and less eye strain headaches.

“Many of these problems arise from a poor WFH ergonomic computer workspace — which may have begun out of necessity, but if working from home is something that will be part of your regular routine, then it’s time for proper ergonomics.”

For example, if you’re sitting in a chair that’s too low, Conrad says it will cause you to lean forward more than usual. “This can lead to neck or back strain, and limit how long you can be on the computer doing work.” Depending on your height, if you have a taller chair, he says you may need a shorter desk, and if you have a shorter chair, he says you may need to raise the monitor to accommodate it.

“When you can sit longer without pain, you can get more done, since less strain on the back and shoulders will allow you to sit for longer periods of time and not lose your train of thought,” Conrad explains.

Dr. Sapna Sriram, chiropractor and injury expert at Integra Health Centre in Toronto, Ontario, recommends using adjustable standing desks or standing desk converters, as they offer a range of benefits:

Improved Posture: “Standing encourages better posture as it reduces the likelihood of slouching and promotes a more upright position, reducing strain on the spine,” Sriram says.

Enhanced Ergonomics: The ability to adjust the height of an adjustable standing desk or standing desk converter lets you customize your workspace for optimal ergonomic comfort, and Sriram says this reduces the risk of musculoskeletal problems.

Increased Energy and Productivity: “Standing can boost blood circulation and energy levels, potentially leading to increased productivity and focus during work hours,” Sriram explains,

Reduced Health Risks: “Prolonged sitting has been associated with various health risks, including obesity, cardiovascular issues, and back pain,” Sriram warns. However, she says that using a standing desk or standing desk converter can help mitigate these risks by reducing sedentary behavior.

These are some of the items that can help you create a stylish, comfortable, and ergonomic office space.

Adjustable Standing Desk

Photos courtesy of

The Eureka Ergonomic Two-Drawer Electric Standing Desk has a genuine leather finish. The quiet dual-motor lift system can increase the desk’s height from 34 to 52 inches. The desktop is 55 inches in length by 23.6 inches wide and has a maximum weight capacity of 220 pounds. It includes a built-in outlet, built-in USB port, wireless charger, two drawers, and a movable monitor shelf.

If you’re looking for a smaller option, the Burrow Copilot Standing Desk is 27 inches in length and 43 inches in width, and has a height range of 28.5 to 48 inches. The desk drawer is large enough to hold a 17-inche laptop, keyboard, and mouse, and the desk also has a cord organization compartment on top, as well as a 6-inch monitor mount opening on the back. The solid beech desk, which has a weight capacity of 300 pounds, is available in walnut and oak.

Ergonomic Chair

The Humanscale Freedom Task Chair is unique in that it doesn’t need a lot of levers or dials. It has a dynamic headrest, self-adjusting recline, and synchronous arms attached to the back of the chair. Everything works together to automatically adjust to body weight and seated position. The one lever on the chair is used to adjust the height from 34.6 inches to 41.7 inches. The chair, which has a weight capacity of 400 pounds, is available in leather, woven upholstery, and knit, and in several textile colors.

The X4 Leather Executive Chair is available with or without an headrest, and it also includes optional massage options, such as a heat and massage insert, or a cooling, heat and massage insert. The chair comes standard with 4D arms, but you can choose 360-degree rotating arms instead. The seat’s height can be adjusted from 18.5 to 22.5 inches and the seat depth can be adjusted as well. Maximum weight capacity is 275 pounds. Leather color options include cognac, black, brown, red, and white.

Available in mesh, digital knit or leather, the Haworth Zody Office Chair has a dual posture option that supports you whether sitting down or in a perch position (partially-standing and partially sitting), which is common with adjustable standing desks. It comes with an optional lumbar adjustment system. Both the seat height and seat depth can be adjusted, and the chair also has a forward tilt, tilt tension, and back stop. It has a weight limit of 400 pounds.

The Serene Executive Napa Leather Office Chair is made of full-grain Napa leather, available in black, off-white, black/red, and orange. The headrest has an arc-shape that gently supports the neck and head while relieving pressure. Also, the three-dimensional lumbar pillow supports the spine and eases lower back fatigue. The chair reclines from 90 to 135 degrees, and the seat height and depth are adjustable as well. The weight limit is 300 pounds.

External Monitor

If you like to keep dozens of folders open on your desktop, the Innocn 34” OLED Curved Ultrawide Monitor has plenty of screen real estate and is also large enough to keep you from having to squint. The WQHD monitor has a 175Hz refresh rate, and it can tilt, swivel, and includes a height-adjustable stand — although it can also be wall mounted. There are several inputs, including two HDMI 2.0, DP1.4, two USB-A 3.0, USB-B 3.0, Type-C 65W, and audio out. The monitor also has a 15W phone charging pad.

Another option is the QHD MSI 27" Gaming Monitor , which has a 16:9 aspect ratio, and a LCD panel with LED backlight. It also has a 165Hz refresh rate, and a 1ms response time, which makes it a good choice for gaming as well. The curved monitor also has a tilt adjustment feature. Hardware interface includes HDMI, and DisplayPort.

Portable Monitor

Portable monitors are an alternative to external monitors. They provide the advantage of being easy to transport, so you can also toss them in your laptop bag when traveling. The FHD ASUS ZenScreen Ink 14" Portable Monitor is a touch screen monitor with a stylus pen (with 4096 level pressure sensitivity). It has an integrated stand, along with two USB-C and one micro-HDMI input.

The generous size of the Espresso 17 Pro Portable Monitor and Stand can make it easy to add a second screen to your laptop, smartphone, or tablet. The touch screen monitor has 4K resolution, 450 nits of brightness, and 1.07 billion colors. It’s also ultra-light, weighing 2.4 pounds and is only 0.35 inches thick. The monitor includes a USB-C cable, but also has ports for HDMI, and mini DisplayPort. The display stand, which attaches magnetically, can be adjusted as needed.

Dual Portable Monitor

Dual monitors are a way to extend your laptop screen even more. The 1080p KYY 14" Dual Monitor attaches on both sides of your laptop (and has a built-in kickstand), for a total of three screens. In addition to extended mode, the dual monitor setup can be used in portrait or presentation mode. The IPS LCD monitor is compatible with 12-inch to 16-inch laptops and has a low blue light feature. It comes with a Type-C to Type-C/USB-A Cable and a Type-C to USB-A cable.

Another dual monitor option, The Portable Monitor Flex 14” has two 14-inch LED screens (1920 x 1080), 300 nits of brightness, and a 60Hz refresh rate. The thin and feather-light monitor is easy to swivel 180 degrees and it can be used in both portrait and vertical mode, as well as in presentation mode. The integrated stand is also adjustable to 90 degrees. The monitor includes a USB-C to USB-C cable, and a USB-C to USB 3.0/2.0 cable.

Standing Desk Converter/Portable Table

In lieu of an adjustable standing desk, you can use your existing desk and put the Flexispot Standing Desk Converter on top of it. Available in a variety of sizes ranging from 32 inches to 42 inches, it can be used on standard, L-shaped, and compact desks. The desk converter can adjust in height from 5.7 inches to 19.7 inches, and has room for your laptop and monitor(s) on top, and your keyboard on the second shelf.

For those times when you want to sit on the sofa, the Haworth Elements 4-Function Table can be used to hold your laptop — either horizontally as a lap table, or vertically as an end table (and you can also use it as a standing desk converter to make your desk taller, or as an ottoman for your feet). It’s made of laser-cut solid steel with a powder coat-finish, available in charcoal, smooth plaster, desert rose, terra cotta, moss, and stone. The table in 24.5 inches in height, 15.5 inches, and 11.74 inches in depth.

To bring your monitor to eye level, the Vari Desk Shelf is a modern desk riser that’s 4 inches tall. It’s also 40 inches wide, with enough space to hold two monitors. The matte black shelf, which has a 50-pound weight capacity, can also hold other desk accessories neatly and out of the way.

If you prefer more color choices, Grovemade Desk Shelf is available in matte black, solid walnut, solid maple, solid oak, matte blue, blackened walnut, oak plywood, walnut plywood, maple plywood, and matte white. The desk shelf comes in small, medium, large, and extra-large sizes, and with and without a desk tray. Each shelf supports monitors up to 50 pounds.

The Energy Star-certified Humanscale Nova Task Light has a customized optical lens to reduce glare, and counterbalance arms that rotate 180 degrees. It uses only 7 watts to produce a 3000k (warm) to 4000k (cool) temperature range. The light has touch dimming and occupancy sensor to turn off 15 minutes after no presence has been detected. Color choices include jet black, light gray, and arctic white.

If you prefer a floor standing option, the Dyson Solarcycle Floor Lamp can be used as a task light at your desk to reduce eye strain, but you can also rotate the optional head when soft background light is preferred. It can also be used to create indirect light, and feature lighting. In addition, the magnetic docking system can emit a soft, orange glow when you want ambient light. The lamp, which has a light output of 850 lumens, can be controlled manually or via the MyDyson app. It’s available in black, black/brass, and white/silver

Mouse/Keyboard

The Logitech MX Master 3S Wireless Mouse has an ergonomic silhouette that’s designed to provide support for your fingers and palm, and the tilt angle creates a more natural posture. It’s wireless, and a full charge can last for 70 days, while a 1-minute charge lasts for 3 hours. Color choices are graphite, pale gray, and black.

The Logitech MX Keys S Keyboard is an ergonomically-design wireless keyboard with spherically-dished keys for an efficient and comfortable typing experience. A full charge lasts for 10 days, and the ambient light sensors can adjust the brightness of the backlighting. The keyboard comes in three colors: black, graphite, and pale gray.

A desk pad can instantly make your desk look better, and also protect it from scratches and spills. The Harber London Leather Desk Mat is made of 100% full-grain leather on one side, and has 100% natural wool felt padding on the other side (although you can also choose a microfiber padding instead). The desk mat has a cut-through cable pass to help corral all of your cables. Color choices include tan, black, and navy, and in several sizes.

Another option, with a natural cork backing, is the Grovemade Leather Desk Pad , which is made of a premium vegetable-tanned leather. It comes in various sizes, including small, small plus, medium, medium plus, large, and extra-large. Color choices are black and tan.

Listening to the right music can increase your work performance. The Klipsch Nashville Portable Bluetooth Speaker is small enough that it won’t take up much space on your desk. However, it has dual woofers and dual tweeters for rich, 360-degree sound. One charge powers the speaker for up to 24 hours, and the speaker itself can also recharge a phone. Also, the built-in microphone lets you take hands-free phone calls.

If you prefer a speaker that looks like a work of art, Balmuda The Speaker has a glass display with three tubes containing LED lights that synchronize with the music. The cylindrical structure has a 77mm speaker, and a 3D sound driver that diffuses sounds upwardly for an omnidirectional experience. The speaker is lightweight (weighing 2.2 pounds) and provides 7 hours of listening time on a single charge.

Working from home can create a more sedentary lifestyle, and a smartwatch helps to monitor your health. The Polar Grit X2 Pro Watch can track how many steps you take, monitor your heart rate, and provide reminders to drink more water. The guided breathing exercise helps to relax your body and calm your mind when you’re stressed, and the sleep features can track the length and quality of your sleep and identify factors that negatively impact sleep quality. The touchscreen watch has an AMOLED display, over 150 sport profiles, dual-frequency GPSm and offline maps. Battery life is up to 10 days, and color choices are night black and stone gray.

If you prefer a more elegant choice, the Withings Scanwatch Nova Smartwatch has an oyster metal bracelet (and also a fluoroelastomer sport band). It provides smartphone notifications, health heart tracking (including average heart rate and atrial fibrillation), respiratory insights such as blood oxygen levels and breathing disturbances, menstrual cycle tracking, and 24/7 temperature tracking. The watch also tracks movement in over 40 activities, and provides a sleep quality score. Battery life is 30 days.

The Motorola Razr+ Flip Phone has a 3.6-inch pOLED display, which makes it easy to look at photos and videos, access the built-in keyboard, and view notifications without having to open the phone. The sleek design of the lightweight phone also unfolds to a 6.9-inch screen, and has a 165Hz refresh rate for playing games. Dolby Atmos audio with Bluetooth experiences optimized by Snapdragon Sound combine to create all-around sound, and Ultrawide Macro Vision lens can captures everything from wide-angle shots to close ups.

The OnePlus 12R Smartphone , which is available with 8 GB RAM and 128 GB of storage, or 16GB RAM and 256GB of storage, can charge from 1% to 100% in just 31 minutes, and the 5500mAh battery is long-lasting. Powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, the phone is designed to be powerful, and the Dual Cryo-velocity cooling system keeps the device cool when gaming or during other types of graphics-intensive activities. The phone has a triple camera system, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, and a fingerprint sensor.

A portable projector can be used for virtual presentations and also for entertaining. The FHD XGIMI Halo+ Projector has 700 ISO lumens of brightness, along with auto focus, auto keystone correction, intelligent screen alignment, and intelligent obstacle avoidance, to adjust the display as needed for clear and sharp images. And those images can be cast in sizes ranging from 60 inches to 120 inches. Audio consists of two 5W Harman/Kardon speakers with Dolby Audio for distortion-free Hi-Fi sound. The projector has a 2.5-hour battery life and Android TV is built in.

Another option is the ASUS ZenBeam L2 Smart Portable Projector , which has 960 LED lumens. The projector has FHD resolution as well as 4K compatibility. It projects images from 40 inches to 120 inches. Autofocus, four corner correction, and auto geometric correction features are also included in the projector, which has a 3.5-hour built-in battery, and built-in 10W Harman/Kardon speaker. Also included is a Google-certified Android TV box, and preloaded Netflix. The leather carrying handle makes the projector easy to transport.

Headphones And Earbuds

If you work from home, noise-cancelling headphones are a must. However, some people prefer earbuds instead. The Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 Earbuds feature active noise cancellation to block unwanted sounds and also provide clear phone calls. The hi-res earbuds also have two-way drive units in each of the earbuds to create sound that is rich and full. The app also lets you stream and browse songs, and control your headphones. Battery life is 5 hours with ANC off, and the charging case provides an additional 16 hours. Color choices are midnight blue, satin black, and canvas white.

For a longer battery life, the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 Earbuds can provide up to 30 hours of playtime. Using adaptive noise cancellation, the earbuds, which have a 6-microphone system, automatically adjust to noise based on your surroundings. The TrueResponse transducer system is designed to transmit all of the fine sound quality details and multipoint connectivity lets you switch between two connected devices. The app can be used to manage connections, control noise cancellation, and customize other features. Color choices are black graphite, black copper, and white silver.

Docking Station/Power Bank

Whether you use a Mac or a PC, the Satechi Thunderbolt 4 Multimedia Pro Dock has enough inputs to handle everything. The 16 ports include 2 HDMI, 2 DisplayPort, 1 Thunderbolt 4 (host), USB-C 3.2 10Gbps, 3 USB-A 3.2 10Gbps, 2 USB-A 3.2 5Gbps, USB 2.0 (charge), SD and micro SD, ethernet, and audio jack. The dock can support laptops, phones, tablets, monitors, keyboards, mice, and other devices.

If you don’t need as many ports, the UGREEN 145W Charging Bank is a portable charger with three ports:, USB-A, USB-C1, and USB-C2. Capable of charging a 13” MacBook Air in 90 minutes, it easily charges other devices as well. The charging bank helps to free up your wall outlets, and the last-longing battery makes it ideal for tossing in your backpack or laptop bag and using it at the airport, café, or even when camping.

Portable Power Station

If the power goes out at home, you can continue to work with the Jackery Explorer 2000 Plus Solar Generator , which has a 2042.8Wh capacity, and can, for example, power a desktop PC for 12 hours, a refrigerator for 3.1 hours, a projector for 14 hours, and a microwave for 1.5 hours. It’s more than capable of powering a laptop, monitor, tablet, smartphone, and other WFH items as well. While you can charge the solar generator using six 200-watt solar panels in 2 hours, you can also charge it via an AC outlet in 2 hours as well – and it can also be charged via the car auxiliary port.

For even more power, the 6,000 Wh Anker Solix F3800 Portable Power Station can power, for example, a Wi-Fi router for 40.1 hours, TV for 20.1 hours, refrigerator for 14.9 hours, and microwave for 4.3 hours. It can power a projector for 24.3 hours, and provide 454.4 phone charges and 61.6 laptop charges. The portable power station can be charged via AC outlet, solar panels, or car auxiliary port.

Working from home, you may miss the free and endless supply of bottled water. However, with the Breville InFuzz Fusion , you can add some pizazz to your tap water, and also add fizz to soda, juice, tea, cocktails, and wine. The carbonator doesn’t require batteries or power – just use the fusion cap. And the 34-ounce bottle allows you to carbonate and then store your favorite beverage in the refrigerator. The stainless-steel carbonator is available in brushed stainless steel, black truffle, sea salt, damson blue, and olive tapenade.

Depending on how far you are from the kitchen, it may be inconvenient to go back and forth from the home office. However, this Hamilton Beach Wine Cooler Fridge is compact enough to store in your office, and it can hold 43 bottles of wine – but can also be used to store bottled water, soft drinks, energy drinks, and fruit. The stylish appliance is 5 cubic feet, and has wooden shelves and interior lights, in addition to the touch control temperature display.

Backpack/Tote/Briefcase

For those occasions when you need to go to the office, Expressions NYC makes a variety of stylish backpack options, including the tan vegan leather Lenox Ave Backpack , which has adjustable shoulder straps and can also be converted to a cross body bag. The backpack has a top zipper, two exterior front zipper pockets, and an exterior zipper pocket on the back. The black Upper West Side Backpack , also made of vegan leather, has a detachable top handle and adjustable back shoulder straps. It also features a zipper pocket and a slide-in pocket.

The black Harber London TotePack is made of recycled plastic bottles fabric combined with full grain leather. It has a padded compartment that can fit up to a 16-inch laptop, and another padded compartment that fits up to a 13-inch tablet. The totepack has a zippered main compartment, zippered inner compartment, and 2 inner side pockets, along with a trolley sleeve. The tan Everyday Leather Briefcase has a padded laptop compartment, padded tablet compartment, dedicated charger pocket, dedicated slots for pens and cords, pockets for notepads and passports, detachable magnetic key chair, trolley sleeve, and carry strap.

Editorial Standards
Reprints & Permissions

8 California real estate battles worth watching

Two businessmen boxing on a balanced seesaw.

The property game rarely has clear winners and losers

Show more sharing options
Copy Link URL Copied!

It’s playoff season for basketball and hockey with sports fans glued to the big matchups.

But that kind of emotion and energy isn’t just limited to athletic contests. For example, there are plenty of big real estate battles brewing across California this spring.

Now, the property game rarely has clear winners and losers. And these contests aren’t often settled quickly.

Still, in the spirit of the season of championship competition, here are eight real estate wars worth watching.

Renting vs. buying

High home prices compounded by high mortgage rates translate to lofty monthly mortgage payments that easily exceed the cost of being a renter. That doesn’t mean renting is a financial champion in the long run, but its winning streak is a key factor behind lethargic homebuying.

Key number: A typical mortgage payment for a California home purchase is two-thirds higher than monthly rents, says GoBanking.com.

Edge? Renting’s short-run financial advantage will not go away anytime soon. But that doesn’t mean the benefits of ownership — financial and otherwise — won’t continue to appeal to many folks.

Fed vs. inflation

For two years, the Federal Reserve has fought to control the escalating cost of living with higher interest rates — including mortgages. Yes, the central bank scored some wins in cooling inflation off from four-decades highs, but a complete victory remains elusive.

Key number: Hopes for lower inflation and rates have dimmed. The 30-year mortgage is now at a four-month high.

Edge? Fed officials admit this battle will take longer than expected. So “higher for longer” is the interest-rate playbook for 2024.

Build vs. NIMBY

It’s a classic tussle. Most folks know that the state, no less than the nation, needs more housing. But there are not-in-my-backyard opponents who think new residences should be far from their current homes.

Key number: Between 2010 and 2020, California’s population grew by 6.1 percent while its housing supply rose by just 4.7 percent.

Edge? It will be a slugfest, but it’s a reasonable to think the pro-development will eventually prevail as the cost of housing grows. But it won’t be an easy game.

House hunters vs. investors

It’s a never-ending tug-of-war between house hunters seeking a place to live and others looking for investment properties. Low homebuying affordability puts a focus on investors — especially big-money giants — and their role in rising home prices.

Key number: Investors of all shapes and sizes were a record 29 percent of U.S. purchases in the fourth quarter, according to CoreLogic.

Edge? Despite lots of legislative tough talk, it’s unlikely significant action will be taken to limit investors’ access to the housing market. But upsets do happen.

Realtors vs. DOJ

Lost in the commotion from the settlement of the National Association of Realtors’ commission lawsuit was news that the Department of Justice had won the right to reopen its investigation into how homes sell nationwide.

Key number: 21 million U.S. home sellers in the “settlement class” could get as little as $13 each .

Edge? Tough call. But this heavyweight fight could reshape the homebuying process.

Office space vs. work from home

Efforts to get more workers back to the office have stalled. And that’s a big commercial real estate headache, as copious office space remains vacant because of remote jobs.

Key number: 46 percent work a hybrid schedule, up from 34 percent in 2023, says KPMG .

Edge? So far in this work/life struggle, workers are the winners. Office landlords will be the losers.

Malls vs. online shopping

As life returns to a new normalcy, in-person shopping revived. This is also a commercial real estate contest — pitting retail space vs. warehouses built to handle the online shopping craze.

Key number: Online was 15.6 percent of U.S. retail sales at the end of 2023, up from 9.9 percent five years earlier, according to Commerce Dept. stats .

Edge? The feel-good nature of a trip to the mall is hard to beat. But online shopping’s convenience and pricing make it the winner.

Bankers vs. risk

This historic rivalry helps determine how much money is available to borrow. Bankers are still scarred by the Great Recession and have been quick to pull back lending activities with recent discovery of risks.

Key number: 1.2 percent of California consumers missed a bill payment in the fourth quarter — up from 1 percent a year earlier but off from 2.1 percent at year-end 2019, according to the New York Fed .

Edge? Risk, real or imaginary, seems to have the advantage — and that won’t change quickly.

Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at [email protected] .

Get U-T Business in your inbox on Mondays

Get ready for your week with the week’s top business stories from San Diego and California, in your inbox Monday mornings.

You may occasionally receive promotional content from the San Diego Union-Tribune.

More in this section

FILE - Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao, right, leaves federal court in Seattle on Nov. 21, 2023, after pleading guilty to violations of U.S. anti-money laundering laws. Zhao, the founder of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, faces sentencing Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Seattle, where U.S. prosecutors are asking a judge to give him a three-year prison term for allowing rampant money laundering on the platform. (Ken Lambert/The Seattle Times via AP, File)

National Business

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao faces sentencing; US seeks 3-year term for allowing money laundering

Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, faces sentencing in a Seattle courtroom

Afghans work in the garden of the renovated Darul Aman Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Siddiqullah Alizai)

From spring offensive to charm offensive: The Taliban are working to woo tourists to Afghanistan

A Taliban-run tourism and hotel management institute has opened its doors to students

People pass by a Samsung Gangnam store in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. Samsung Electronics on Tuesday reported a 10-fold increase in operating profit for the last quarter as the expansion of artificial intelligence technologies drives a rebound in the markets for computer memory chips. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Samsung reports a 10-fold increase in profit as AI drives rebound in memory chip markets

Samsung Electronics on Tuesday reported a 10-fold increase in operating profit for the last quarter as the expansion of artificial intelligence technologies drives a rebound in the markets for computer memory chips

Hawaii Insurance Commissioner Gordon Ito films a wildfire burn risk demonstration at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, Monday, April 29, 2024. Some property insurance companies in Hawaii and other states have stopped providing coverage to residents because of increasing wildfire risk and climbing construction costs. The Idaho Department of Insurance hosted the burn demonstration as part of a forum for western Insurance commissioners on the impact wildfires are having on the nation’s insurance market. (AP Photo/Rebecca Boone)

Growing wildfire risk leaves states grappling with how to keep property insurers from fleeing

Months after a catastrophic fire burned more than 2,200 homes and killed 101 people in Hawaii, some property owners are getting more bad news — their property insurance won’t be renewed because their insurance company has deemed the risk too high

April 29, 2024

A monthly residential bill from San Diego Gas & Electric.

Coming soon: A vote on whether to establish a $24 fixed monthly charge on your utility bill

Proposal before the California Public Utilities Commission would lower electricity rates — but customers would also pay a flat, monthly charge each month

FILE - 2024 Accord sedans are displayed at a Honda dealership April 14, 2023, in Highlands Ranch, Colo. The U.S. Department of Transportation on Monday, April 29, 2024, is expected to unveil a requirement that automatic emergency braking become standard equipment on nearly all new passenger vehicles. The 2024 Accord has automatic emergency braking. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

US to require automatic emergency braking on new vehicles in 5 years and set performance standards

Automatic emergency braking will have to come standard on all U.S. new passenger vehicles in five years

IMAGES

Working From Home vs. Office: 16 Pros and Cons to Help you Decide
Working from home vs. working from the office: a comparison
Working From Home and Its Advantages Over Working In Office
Office Working VS Working From Home
Working From Home vs. Office: 7 Pros & Cons to Consider
Work from Home vs Work from Office : Comparison and Advantages

VIDEO

how to write application for office leave // how to write sick leave application for office 🔥💯
Working In Office Vs. Working From Home
Office mornings be like 😂 #funny #comedy #animal
Work From Home vs Work From Office

COMMENTS

Working from Home Vs. Working in an Office
In this comprehensive essay, we will analyze the comparison between working from home and working in an office. We will delve into the productivity levels associated with each setting and their impact on work performance. Additionally, we will explore how working from home can lead to fewer distractions, increased flexibility, and improved work ...
Working From Home vs. Working in an Office (Pros and Cons)
A work-from-home (WFH) job, or a remote position, allows the employee to complete their work tasks in a home office or other location. Employees might use a range of technological devices in their work, including a work phone, computer and internet modem. Here are some common WFH positions: Customer service associate. Copywriter.
Are We Really More Productive Working from Home?
In an analysis of the data collected through March 2021, they find that nearly six out of 10 workers reported being more productive working from home than they expected to be, compared with 14 percent who said they got less done. On average, respondents' productivity at home was 7 percent higher than they expected.
Work From Home vs. Work From Office: Which Is Actually Better?
1. It's Easier to Procrastinate at Home. Although it's less stressful, working at home makes it easier to procrastinate since the working hours are not clearly defined, and you don't have a direct manager supervising you. For people who lack self-control and a good work ethic, working from home can invite laziness. 2.
Working from home (Corrected Essay)
Office has no longer been the only work place since many people are considering working from home. Some may argue the majority of employees should change their work place from office to home. In my opinion, the benefits of working from home can surely surpass offset the drawbacks due to the following reasons: various reasons.
Differences Between Working From Home and the Office
The Work Schedule. Working at the office typically happens during standard business hours. That's around eight hours per day, five days a week. But loads of studies show people can only stay in the deep focus work zone for three to four hours, max. So the rest of those hours at your desk equate to pure busy work.
The bright future of working from home
The bright future of working from home. There seems to be an endless tide of depressing news in this era of COVID-19. But one silver lining is the long-run explosion of working from home. Since March I have been talking to dozens of CEOs, senior managers, policymakers and journalists about the future of working from home.
Pros and Cons of Working From Home
Cons of Working From Home. Con: No physical separation between work and leisure time. Con: Easy to misread cues via electronic communications. Con: You have to make the effort to get a change of ...
Work From Home vs. Office Pros & Cons
Working from home leads to a 13% increase in performance. 7. Remote work results in 50% lower attrition. Employees who have the option of working from home at least one time each month are 24% more likely to feel happy in their roles. While the work from home vs. work from office model is a new concept to many US companies, allowing employees ...
Working From Home vs. Office: Pros & Cons
51% of employees prefer remote work because it improves work-life balance. 76% prefer to avoid office when they need to concentrate on an important task. 77% of remote employees are more productive when they work from home. 25% of employees would take up to 10 percent pay cut to work remotely.
Working from home vs working from office in terms of job performance
Literature review. WFH is a working arrangement in which employees fulfill the essential responsibilities that their job entails while remaining at home using ICT (International Labor Organization 2020, 5).Although a slight difference exists among terms such as WFH, teleworking, telecommuting and remote working, these concepts are largely interchangeable.
Work from Home vs. Office Work (With Pros and Cons)
Advantages of working in the office. Here are some benefits of working in a traditional office setting: Potential savings: The organization typically pays for all the equipment, utilities, and equipment used on its premises. Working in an office helps you save money for utility bills compared to working from home.
compare and contrast working from home and working at office
In conclusion, working from home and working in an office is different in many ways namely commuting, working hours, and modes of communication. Depending on each individual's needs and personality, one might prefer one working style to another and decide which might work best for them. ... Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.436164333741 ...
Comparison Report; Working from Home Vs. Working from Office
Comparison: Work-Life Balance. Working from home allows for a better work-life balance, as employees can structure their work hours around personal commitments and avoid the stress of commuting. A study by FlexJobs found that 75% of remote workers reported having a better work-life balance, leading to improved mental and emotional well-being.
A Compare and Contrast Essay on Work from Home Versus Work at ...
Sample Essay: Work from home versus work at the office. The lockdown imposed due to the pandemic has badly affected the working patterns of the people. Due to restrictions and social distancing, only a limited number of people or employees are allowed to work at the office, and the remaining staff work from home.
Working From Home Vs. Office: Why Wfh Is Better
In this paper I will discuss how working in the comfort of your own home can provide an environment that is better for mental, physical and financial well-being, as opposed to that of an office and compare working from home vs working in an office.
Working From Home Essay
In the present age it is common for people to work from home because of advances in technology. On balance, I would argue that this has more negative impacts than positive. One advantage of working from home is the freedom it provides. Home workers can organise their work around their home life as they can stop or start work as they please, and ...
Working from Home: Pros, Cons, and Strategies for Success
1. Improved Work-Life Balance: One of the most significant benefits of working from home is the potential for an improved work-life balance. Remote work allows employees to better integrate their professional responsibilities with personal life, leading to reduced commuting time and greater flexibility in managing their schedules. 2.
Working from Home and Changes in Work Characteristics during COVID-19
Working from home also seems to increase productivity and work hours, which may be due to less time commuting, less time on social activities, or other benefits of controlling one's work environment (Choudhury, Foroughi, and Larson 2021). There are some downsides to working from home, including reduced connectedness to coworkers.
Working From Home VS Working In An Office
Smaller companies sometimes allow their employees to work completely from home. Studies have shown that people who work from home tend to be more productive, sometimes putting in 57 hours of work per week than those who work only at the office. Office workers generally put in 38 hours of work before feeling burned out.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Work from Home Essay: 11 Pros and Cons
Explore the pros and cons of working from home in this thought-provoking advantages and disadvantages of work from home essay. Discover the advantages of flexibility and increased productivity, alongside the challenges of isolation and blurred work-life boundaries. Gain valuable insights into the work-from-home phenomenon and make informed decisions about your own professional journey.
Working in an Office Vs Working at Home
Working in an Office Vs Working at Home. This essay sample was donated by a student to help the academic community. Papers provided by EduBirdie writers usually outdo students' samples. One of the most crucial aspects of any organization is providing a very conducive, productive atmosphere in the office since it is where innovative ideas are ...
Work From Home vs Work From Office: Which is Better?
Both work from home and work from office has its own advantages and disadvantages. If you wish to cut-down the commute time and increase productivity, then work from home is better. However, if you focus on better collabaration then working from office is better. Hence work from home vs work from office has its own set of pros and cons.
If You Work From Home, Here's 6 Tips To Create The Perfect WFH Office
Another advantage of working from home: commute time savings. A report by the National Bureau of Economic Research reveals that globally, people who work from save an average of 72 minutes a day ...
8 California real estate battles worth watching
Office space vs. work from home Efforts to get more workers back to the office have stalled. And that's a big commercial real estate headache, as copious office space remains vacant because of ...