Prior to COVID, many companies were reluctant to allow their employees to work from home, and would allow such scenarios only in exceptional circumstances. However, COVID has completely disrupted the way we work and companies had no other option but to allow their employees to work remotely, especially during the lockdown periods.

This brought on a unique scenario that allowed researchers to actually understand what impact remote work has on productivity. From a survey carried out on 7,487 employees across the globe, Catalyst research found that employees who have access to remote-work options, including flexible work location, distributed teams, and/or virtual work/telework/work from home option, were found to be more innovative, engaged and committed to the organisation. They also found that these employees felt more included when compared to other employees that did not have access to remote-work options.

In their findings, Catalyst argue that remote work should not be considered as a one-time scenario that was required due to the pandemic. Rather, remote work should be seen as the way of the future and employees prefer to work remotely at least some of the time. This cannot be dismissed, and the experience of remote work will definitely impact how future companies will shape their offices.