New study attempts to settle the debate between home vs office working

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"More than five years into the homeworking revolution, a narrative seems to have emerged of employees being hauled back to the office against their will. This contrasts with what COVID taught us: that people can work flexibly, benefit from not commuting, and even work for employers far from their home expanding the labour pool for employers. In fact, both of these arguments are oversimplifications. There is nothing inherent to working from home that makes it inefficient or efficient."

"Even if employees welcome it, they may still experience downsides like missing in-person relationships. The one pre-COVID study which used objective data to compare homeworking and onsite working, from Stanford University in the US, found that productivity of homeworkers was higher. But later studies, using objective and subjective measures, have produced mixed results. The Stanford team later found no difference in average productivity levels between hybrid and full-time on-site working."

The Independent covers reproductive rights, climate change and Big Tech and emphasizes sending journalists to report on developing stories. The outlet requests donations to fund on-the-ground reporting, to keep reporting accessible without paywalls, and to have reporters speak to both sides of stories. The homeworking debate has polarized narratives about employees being forced back to offices versus COVID-era flexibility benefits. Homeworking has no inherent efficiency outcome; it can reduce commuting and expand employer labour pools but can cause longer hours and loss of in-person relationships. Pre-COVID Stanford research found higher productivity for homeworkers, while later studies show mixed results and no difference between hybrid and full-time on-site productivity.

Read at www.independent.co.uk