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Prithwiraj Choudhury, a Harvard Business School professor and expert on remote work and labor, makes this seemingly bold statement.
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"We will probably in 10 years stop calling this 'remote work'. We'll just call it work," he said.
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Choudhury, a longtime proponent of "work from anywhere," has researched companies that went completely remote years before the pandemic, such as software companies Gitlab and Zapier. A hybrid workforce, according to his studies, is more productive, loyal, and less likely to leave.
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Companies ranging from Twitter to PwC are now allowing workers to work virtually indefinitely, according to Choudhury, and organizations that do not adapt face increased churn.
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Last week, Choudhury chatted with Bloomberg journalists via Skype from Boston. The following edited excerpts describe the conversation.
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Q: Is there anything about remote employment that the media has completely overlooked or misrepresented?
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A: Remote work is often pitched as something that employees want and employers don't. My research has shown that this is a win-win. For employees, it's great to work from anywhere because you can move to a cheaper location. You can live where you want to.
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For employers, it’s a win as well because you are not constrained to hiring from the local labor market - where you have an office. The other big benefit is productivity. In the U.S. Patent Office, we documented a 4.4% productivity gain back in 2012 when they allowed patent examiners to work from anywhere.
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Full interview HERE .
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