This House regrets the rise of remote-first work.

econ

Five years post-pandemic the productivity data is contested, the city-revenue data is not. The career-progression data for early-career workers is the quietest part of the debate and probably the most important.

Background

About 22% of US workdays were remote in 2024 per WFH Research, down from a peak of 40% but ten times the pre-pandemic rate. San Francisco office values have dropped 60%+ from 2019 peaks; transit ridership in major US cities sits at 60-75% of pre-pandemic levels. The productivity literature has split: Bloom's Stanford studies find a slight remote-positive in repetitive work, slight remote-negative in creative work. The career-progression study by Emanuel and Harrington (2023) showed remote engineers got 50% less feedback from senior engineers and were promoted at 12% lower rates over 2 years.

Government opens with

Remote work has hollowed mentorship and tilted careers toward the already-established.

Opposition responds with

Remote work freed millions of workers from commute, geography, and the office class system.