The Future of the Office : Work From Home, Remote Work, and the Hard Choices We All Face

In a prescient new book, **__The Future of the Office:__** **__Work from Home, Remote Work, and the Hard Choices We All Face__**, Wharton professor Peter Cappelli lays out the facts in an effort to provide both employees and employers with a vision of their futures. Cappelli unveils the surprising tradeoffs both may have to accept to get what they want. **A __GLOBE & MAIL__ BEST BUSINESS BOOK OF 2021** **The COVID-19 pandemic forced an unprecedented experiment that reshaped white-collar work and turned remote work into a kind of "new normal." Now comes the hard part.** Many employees want to continue that normal and keep working remotely, and most at least want the ability to work occasionally from home. But for employers, the benefits of employees working from home or hybrid approaches are not so obvious. What should both groups do? In a prescient new book, **__The Future of the Office: Work from Home, Remote Work, and the Hard Choices We All Face__**, Wharton professor Peter Cappelli lays out the facts in an effort to provide both employees and employers with a vision of their futures. Cappelli unveils the surprising tradeoffs both may have to accept to get what they want. Cappelli illustrates the challenges we face by in drawing lessons from the pandemic and deciding what to do moving forward. Do we allow some workers to be permanently remote? Do we let others choose when to work from home? Do we get rid of their offices? What else has to change, depending on the approach we choose? His research reveals there is no consensus among business leaders. Even the most high-profile and forward-thinking companies are taking divergent approaches: **--Facebook**, **Twitter**, and other tech companies say many employees can work remotely on a permanent basis. **--Goldman Sachs**, **JP Morgan**, and others say it is important for everyone to come back to the office. **--Ford** is redoing its office space so that most employees can work from home at least part of the time, and **--GM** is planning to let local managers work out arrangements on an ad-hoc basis. As Cappelli examines, earlier research on other types of remote work, including telecommuting offers some guidance as to what to expect when some people will be in the office and others work at home, and also what happened when employers tried to take back offices. Neither worked as expected. In a call to action for both employers and employees, Cappelli explores how we should think about the choices going forward as well as who wins and who loses. As he implores, we have to choose soon.

A GLOBE & MAIL BEST BUSINESS BOOK OF 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic forced an unprecedented experiment that reshaped white-collar work and turned remote work into a kind of "new normal." Now comes the hard part.

Many employees want to continue that normal and keep working remotely, and most at least want the ability to work occasionally from home. But for employers, the benefits of employees working from home or hybrid approaches are not so obvious. What should both groups do?

In a prescient new book, The Future of the Office: Work from Home, Remote Work, and the Hard Choices We All Face, Wharton professor Peter Cappelli lays out the facts in an effort to provide both employees and employers with a vision of their futures. Cappelli unveils the surprising tradeoffs both may have to accept to get what they want.

Cappelli illustrates the challenges we face by in drawing lessons from the pandemic and deciding what to do moving forward. Do we allow some workers to be permanently remote? Do we let others choose when to work from home? Do we get rid of their offices? What else has to change, depending on the approach we choose?

His research reveals there is no consensus among business leaders. Even the most high-profile and forward-thinking companies are taking divergent approaches:

--Facebook, Twitter, and other tech companies say many employees can work remotely on a permanent basis.
--Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, and others say it is important for everyone to come back to the office.
--Ford is redoing its office space so that most employees can work from home at least part of the time, and
--GM is planning to let local managers work out arrangements on an ad-hoc basis.

As Cappelli examines, earlier research on other types of remote work, including telecommuting offers some guidance as to what to expect when some people will be in the office and others work at home, and also what happened when employers tried to take back offices. Neither worked as expected.

In a call to action for both employers and employees, Cappelli explores how we should think about the choices going forward as well as who wins and who loses. As he implores, we have to choose soon.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced an unprecedented experimentthat reshaped white-collar work and turned remote work into a kindof "new normal." Now comes the hard part. Many employeeswant to continue that normal and keep working remotely, and most atleast want the ability to work occasionally from home. But foremployers, the benefits of employees working from home or hybridapproaches are not so obvious. What should both groups do? In aprescient new book, The Future of the Office: Work fromHome, Remote Work, and the Hard Choices We All Face ,Wharton professor Peter Cappelli lays out the facts in an effort toprovide both employees and employers with a vision of theirfutures. Cappelli unveils the surprising tradeoffs both may have toaccept to get what they want. Cappelli illustrates the challengeswe face by in drawing lessons from the pandemic and deciding whatto do moving forward. Do we allow some workers to be permanentlyremote? Do we let others choose when to work from home? Do we getrid of their offices? What else has to change, depending on theapproach we choose? His research reveals there is no consensusamong business leaders. Even the most high-profile andforward-thinking companies are taking divergent approaches:--Facebook, Twitter, and othertech companies say many employees can work remotely on a permanentbasis. --Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and others say it is important for everyone tocome back to the office. --Ford is redoing itsoffice space so that most employees can work from home at leastpart of the time, and --GM is planning to letlocal managers work out arrangements on an ad-hoc basis. AsCappelli examines, earlier research on other types of remote work,including telecommuting offers some guidance as to what to expectwhen some people will be in the office and others work at home, andalso what happened when employers tried to take back offices.Neither worked as expected. In a call to action for both employersand employees, Cappelli explores how we should think about thechoices going forward as well as who wins and who loses. As heimplores, we have to choose soon.

"The COVID-19 pandemic forced an unprecedented experiment that reshaped white-collar work and turned remote work into a kind of "new normal." Now comes the hard part. Many employees want to continue that normal and keep working remotely, and most at least want the ability to work occasionally from home. But for employers, the benefits of employees working from home or hybrid approaches are not so obvious. What should both groups do? In a prescient new book, The Future of the Office: Work from Home, Remote Work, and the Hard Choices We All Face, Wharton professor Peter Cappelli lays out the facts in an effort to provide both employees and employers with a vision of their futures. Cappelli unveils the surprising tradeoffs both may have to accept to get what they want. Cappelli illustrates the challenges we face in drawing lessons from the pandemic and deciding what to do moving forward. Do we allow some workers to be permanently remote? Do we let others choose when to work from home? Do we get rid of their offices? What else has to change, depending on the approach we choose? His research reveals there is no consensus among business leaders. Even the most high-profile and forward-thinking companies are taking divergent approaches: Facebook, Twitter, and other tech companies say many employees can work remotely on a permanent basis. Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, and others say it is important for everyone to come back to the office. Ford is redoing its office space so that most employees can work from home at least part of the time, and GM is planning to let local managers work out arrangements on an ad-hoc basis. As Cappelli examines, earlier research on other types of remote work, including telecommuting offers some guidance as to what to expect when some people will be in the office and others work at home, and also what happened when employers tried to take back offices. Neither worked as expected. In a call to action for both employers and employees, Cappelli explores how we should think about the choices going forward as well as who wins and who loses. As he implores, we have to choose soon."-- ProQuest Ebook Central resource page, viewed December 9, 2022 Contents Introduction Chapter 1 The COVID-19 Experience: What We Can (and Can’t) Learn from It Chapter 2 Back to the Future: How Remote Work Works Chapter 3 How Remote Working Alters the Future of Work Chapter 4 Managing the Transition: The Importance of Planning Chapter 5 The Opportunity: How to Make Sure We Don’t Miss It Conclusion: Looking Past Our Own Offices Acknowledgments Notes Index About the Author About Wharton School Press About the Wharton School