This week, the Hartford Business Journal has a cover piece on the rise of remote work and the issues surrounding it.
For some unknown reason, they decided to put a picture of me on the cover too. Obviously, they're playing to their subscribers and not selling most of their papers at newsstands (note to my kids' generation: You can still find newsstands at airports.)
In any event, putting aside their editorial decision, the article discusses the post-pandemic world that we're living in where remote work is an acceptable form of work to some.
But as I am quoted in the article, the acceptance of remote work varies wildly depending on industry and even company.
In health care and education, in person work is valued more than ever. And at some other white collar jobs, it's becoming more common to hear of people coming back into work on a daily basis rather than just a few days a week.
And yet, driving into Hartford on a Friday morning, it's palpable that traffic is down and there are less people on the roads. Presumably, some of these missing drivers are working from home or another remote location.
For employers, remote work provides its own challenges. There are the legal ones: What laws may apply to someone who works from home? What if that employee is working remotely from another state? What accommodations do you provide to a person with a disability who is working remotely?
And then there are the practical ones: How do you effectively monitor an employee's performance? How do you maintain a culture and a sense of belonging?
As I note in the article, there is just no one size fits all answer to the remote work questions.
Remote work is here to stay but the hybrid workplace is really where the action is. And as I note before, it's acceptance varies significantly from company to company and industry to industry.
My thanks to the HBJ for the opportunity to provide some insights.
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