Remote work has its advantages, no doubt, but it’s the cons that demand serious thought

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged employees across organizations to work from home (WFH). With fewer commutes, nationwide fuel consumption would fall, making WFH seem like an instant remedy for the current fuel crunch. The critical question, however, is whether WFH is a reversible move.

Once the crisis—widely expected to be short-term—subsides, will employees be willing to return to their offices? So the more important question is whether WFH will permanently reshape the expectations of a corporate job?For many employees, rush-hour commutes are a grind. Permanent WFH policies will let people relocate to more affordable towns and villages, cutting living costs substantially. It also opens doors for qualified professionals who have stayed out of the workforce due to caregiving or household responsibilities.

These benefits are tangible and immediate. So, once people experience the convenience of WFH, persuading them back to the office can be difficult.A few years ago, when the covid pandemic swept the globe, WFH was the only viable way to limit transmission. Even then—while acknowledging its necessity—I warned that although remote work has advantages on the surface, it could also have significant implicit, unseen and unspoken consequences for the corporate world.

For most of human history, our primary work—hunting and food gathering—was a collective endeavour in which everyone participated. Only with the rise of agriculture and private property did work begin to lose its inherently social character, though much farm labour still took place in small groups. The Industrial Revolution’s assembly lines pushed work even further as an individual task.