New Research found Work from home workers to be less productive

[dunfida]

A study published by the American private nonprofit research organization the National Bureau of Economic Research found that the productivity of workers randomly assigned to work from home was 18% lower than that of those in the office.
https://africa.businessinsider.com/careers/new-research-finds-that-fully-remote-workers-are-less-productive-than-their-in-office/4vxn4sy

These researchers found that if you work from home you will be less efficient and productive than people who from their office. Can we say the same about freelance workers?  Do you think that if workers are given the chance to "own" a task like freelancers they'll be more productive because it is just like being self-employed where you treat it as your business and not with the mindset of another man's business?

I think about this is really going to lead to different answers. But for people who are initially used to working in an office with tight time management and those who are very productive when working in an office because there is indeed supervision from a superior in the office. So maybe they will become less productive if suddenly they are told to work from home. The reason is because at home we feel more relaxed because there is no direct supervision from superiors. Which keeps us from getting the urge to work harder. But for someone who is used to working at home or who is a freelancer, working at home still won't interfere with his productivity at work.

Even though there are supervisors watching you, you still kind of fake it, like you are doing something. Unlike in a work-from-home setup, you are really the one in charge. If there are time trackers or screen trackers, then you'll be working hard, but again, in a work-from-home setup, you'll mostly need to finish the task by the end of the day as there are always reports on what you've done by the end of the day, meaning you'll have to do things. Unlike in an office setup, there are days when there are no meetings, and you'll just casually go in and out.

There are really some pros and cons in between set ups on which same as you had showed or mention about on a physical office on which there are indeed days on which there's no work for you to be done or something

that there's no much thing to be worked on on which it would result on having that bigger break time or you could do whatever you do want as long you are in the premises of your office but of course it would really be still varying on the management because there would really be those supervisors which are really that strict when it comes to arrangement and order of everything. If they do find out that you arent doing something on your paycheck then expect that there would really be words after that.

The thing that i do like when having that work-from-home set up is that i do able to see my family all of the time and do make out those breaks or lunch into the convenience of my own home
which nothing beats out that kind of feelings.

[1714670088]

1714670088

[Silberman]

A study published by the American private nonprofit research organization the National Bureau of Economic Research found that the productivity of workers randomly assigned to work from home was 18% lower than that of those in the office.
https://africa.businessinsider.com/careers/new-research-finds-that-fully-remote-workers-are-less-productive-than-their-in-office/4vxn4sy

These researchers found that if you work from home you will be less efficient and productive than people who from their office. Can we say the same about freelance workers?  Do you think that if workers are given the chance to "own" a task like freelancers they'll be more productive because it is just like being self-employed where you treat it as your business and not with the mindset of another man's business?

To me this sounds like an excuse to try to get people back to the office, if people were as unproductive as they claim to be then businesses would have fired them already as they are interested on making the most money possible and they do not need lazy employees doing nothing from their homes, so I do not believe this is the case, it is just that with the new laws passed businesses are realizing they cannot bother their employees outside of their work hours, and they just want them back so they can get people to work for them for unpaid overtime.

[macson]

A study published by the American private nonprofit research organization the National Bureau of Economic Research found that the productivity of workers randomly assigned to work from home was 18% lower than that of those in the office.
https://africa.businessinsider.com/careers/new-research-finds-that-fully-remote-workers-are-less-productive-than-their-in-office/4vxn4sy

These researchers found that if you work from home you will be less efficient and productive than people who from their office. Can we say the same about freelance workers?  Do you think that if workers are given the chance to "own" a task like freelancers they'll be more productive because it is just like being self-employed where you treat it as your business and not with the mindset of another man's business?

based on a study that i had previously read, working from home does bring you closer to your family but really messes up your focus as a worker, that's why many companies prohibit their employees from working from home when the covid-19 pandemic status has been lowered.  i've also experienced negative feelings myself when i work from home, i feel isolated and less productive, so i decided not to work from home, i'm currently running a small business, being outside the home is much more productive imo.

[Davidvictorson]

I think this depends on the dedication of the person who is working from home.  I believe it became less productive because people who are working from home do not experience the same pressure when they are at the office where many people eyes are observing the employee.  This make them get easy in doing their job.

But to a person who prioritized integrity and credibility, I do not think that the result of working from home will make any difference when he is working at the office.

I believe that employees who are paid well, have a moral responsibility to fulfil their obligations and carry out their tasks to the later whether they are under supervision or not and irrespective of whether they work from home or at the office. People who do not do this terrible they are not only bringing down the revenue source of the company but they are also damaging their reputation because their employers will see them as incompetent and would not recommend them for opportunities if ever there is one. Also, they may even be the first ones to let go if the company is going to downsize. I see the reason why many organization micro manage their staff.  I do not know how practical this is but if we ever come to a time where we are forced to work from home again just in the pandemic staff should be paid per task done or assignment carried out and not monthly.

[Pierre 2]

I have many friends that are working from home since covid happened. I always wished I could also do same but I keep on going office. Anyways, I chat with some friends and most of them say they feel lot better in psychology when they are working at home. But costs are bit too bad. They feel like they don't wanna work, managers force them to work excessively because they are at home, they get overweight etc. I think working from home is not for everyone. Its mainly about our personality. I could do better for sure tho.

[Poker Player]

These researchers found that if you work from home you will be less efficient and productive than people who from their office. Can we say the same about freelance workers?

It depends on the type of work. If you are a freelance article writer and you are paid per article written, you don't need to go to the office and you can work from anywhere in the world. Besides, you are not employed in the company's staff, you are paid as an external. Now, in most office jobs, what you've seen is this: everyone has some downtime when what is the main task they have to do runs out. If you're at home, when you're done with the task, you go watch TV, lay on the couch or whatever, but if you're in the office and you see your bosses walking by you find things to do so they don't see you standing around, like organizing old files, going to talk to the partner or section chief about how to change the website and things like that.

[Gallar]

A study published by the American private nonprofit research organization the National Bureau of Economic Research found that the productivity of workers randomly assigned to work from home was 18% lower than that of those in the office.
https://africa.businessinsider.com/careers/new-research-finds-that-fully-remote-workers-are-less-productive-than-their-in-office/4vxn4sy

These researchers found that if you work from home you will be less efficient and productive than people who from their office.

In my opinion, such an opinion cannot be generalized to all jobs. Because we all know that work is not all in an office or in a factory building. But at home you can also do a job and of course it will be the same. Because the work has many branches and many types. From work that is specifically located in an office, to work that can be done at home.
So I think the research is not complex and not comprehensive in all fields of work.

Then not only that, sometimes there are typical people who are more comfortable working at home compared to working outside the home such as in a factory or office. So if you look at this factor, the research is clearly refuted. Maybe for people who are used to working in an office, it can indeed reduce their work performance a little, but maybe that will only happen in a few days, and if you have adapted your work performance will definitely be normal.

For example, when the Covid 19 outbreak hit a few years ago, at that time due to social distancing rules and those related to the Covid 19 outbreak, many companies made all of their employees work from home. And this went on for quite a while, but even though the workers/employees did their work at home, for the majority, I'm sure they did a very good job.

Because the logic is like this, these employees definitely need money, which they get from their jobs, so automatically these employees will do their best so they don't get fired from their company.

[awik p]

These researchers found that if you work from home you will be less efficient and productive than people who from their office. Can we say the same about freelance workers?

It depends on the type of work. If you are a freelance article writer and you are paid per article written, you don't need to go to the office and you can work from anywhere in the world. Besides, you are not employed in the company's staff, you are paid as an external. Now, in most office jobs, what you've seen is this: everyone has some downtime when what is the main task they have to do runs out. If you're at home, when you're done with the task, you go watch TV, lay on the couch or whatever, but if you're in the office and you see your bosses walking by you find things to do so they don't see you standing around, like organizing old files, going to talk to the partner or section chief about how to change the website and things like that.

it does depend on the type of work and one's character, considering that when the house is in the middle of the night it is quiet, many people actually have bright minds and can do work in a focused manner. On the other hand, there are also people who don't want to bring office work home, so I say that there can be differences because people are not the same in nature, especially for freelancers who are only required to complete work on time and with good results, whatever and whatever way. used, which is important in the results of the work in my opinion

[The Sceptical Chymist]

My first thought is that your productivity would depend on the job you're doing from home, and I'm guessing that's a big factor.  I've always been a 9-to-5 job person and never worked from home, but I've known people who have and my impression is that if you aren't passionate about (or even like) your line of work then all the things and people you might have in your home are going to become way, waaay more interesting than actually doing your job.  Consequently, you'll find miraculous reasons to start cleaning your bathroom or going out for walks instead of being on the clock.

Makes sense, doesn't it?  I'm pretty sure the whole productivity thing is why workers were required to come in to work in the first place, centuries ago.  People could have woven clothes at home, or beated iron, but without a boss overseeing them they'd probably just slack off.  That's also likely why management as a subsection of business studies at university came about, i.e, workers need to be managed--often very closely, which can't really happen if that worker is at home.

But man....I'd still love a job where I could be in my underwear all day.  I'd just nail the doors shut and have a little cat-door in one of them for food deliveries.  Lol.

[Kasabus]

A study published by the American private nonprofit research organization the National Bureau of Economic Research found that the productivity of workers randomly assigned to work from home was 18% lower than that of those in the office.
https://africa.businessinsider.com/careers/new-research-finds-that-fully-remote-workers-are-less-productive-than-their-in-office/4vxn4sy

These researchers found that if you work from home you will be less efficient and productive than people who from their office. Can we say the same about freelance workers?  Do you think that if workers are given the chance to "own" a task like freelancers they'll be more productive because it is just like being self-employed where you treat it as your business and not with the mindset of another man's business?

I think this depends on the dedication of the person who is working from home.  I believe it became less productive because people who are working from home do not experience the same pressure when they are at the office where many people eyes are observing the employee.  This make them get easy in doing their job.

But to a person who prioritized integrity and credibility, I do not think that the result of working from home will make any difference when he is working at the office.

Absolutely. Any person who finds high dedication to his work with or without the supervision of his heads, will always finish his work productively. Because he is matured enough to think that he’s been properly compensated of his work, so in return he should give back the trust and confidence that his company has entrusted him. So there’s no big difference with wfh and working on site, except if he is abusing his position at his own comfort.

[arwin100]

A study published by the American private nonprofit research organization the National Bureau of Economic Research found that the productivity of workers randomly assigned to work from home was 18% lower than that of those in the office.
https://africa.businessinsider.com/careers/new-research-finds-that-fully-remote-workers-are-less-productive-than-their-in-office/4vxn4sy

These researchers found that if you work from home you will be less efficient and productive than people who from their office. Can we say the same about freelance workers?  Do you think that if workers are given the chance to "own" a task like freelancers they'll be more productive because it is just like being self-employed where you treat it as your business and not with the mindset of another man's business?

There are type of jobs where you can do it at home and work from home set up is normal thing nowadays so if the writer of that article think that its not productive then why there are still clients hiring so many workers that can work from them?
Maybe they just get those data on less performing companies but it doesn't mean as a whole. Also we can't deny that their are lazy people but for sure once their client knows or see there performance decline so bad for sure they will be replaced by other productive worker.

[Plaguedeath]

Different job, different character, and different goal are the reasons, so it's really complicated.

There are job that you can be finished ASAP so you can be free, but some are not.

There are people who like to study or work alone, while some like to work with a good place and communicating.

There are people who like to impress and care to everyone, so they will put all of their effort even though they need to kill their own happiness, while some are not.

[dothebeats]

I think this depends on the dedication of the person who is working from home.  I believe it became less productive because people who are working from home do not experience the same pressure when they are at the office where many people eyes are observing the employee.  This make them get easy in doing their job.

But to a person who prioritized integrity and credibility, I do not think that the result of working from home will make any difference when he is working at the office.

Absolutely. Any person who finds high dedication to his work with or without the supervision of his heads, will always finish his work productively. Because he is matured enough to think that he’s been properly compensated of his work, so in return he should give back the trust and confidence that his company has entrusted him. So there’s no big difference with wfh and working on site, except if he is abusing his position at his own comfort.

I have witnessed both productive and non-productive individuals during work-from-home setups. Honestly, it does not matter where the work setting is, it is up to the work dedication of the person and he/she is responsible enough to work without any supervision. WFH challenges the integrity, honesty, and work ethic of each individual that will showcase if they can be productive even at the comfort of their home.

[Lorence.xD]

In my case to this topic, I would literally want to work on field since I know to myself that I would just laze around after doing some tasks because if you are at work, you are focused to finished all things unlike at home. Like some problems at houses that could distract you to finish your work for example cleaning, of course for you to have a good performance you'll have to clean your workplace at home where in the work field they have some people that could finish the cleaning. Also the thing that if you are with your family's house since I'm still a working student, they would just keep asking you to do something like simple issues that they could fix despite you're working. Maybe the environment itself would be the reason why I would prefer work at field and of course it would cause me to be productive since I couldn't laze around the work.

[kryptqnick]

Okay, it's a fairly complex topic, and I don't know what's the tendency in the US, but in my country it's often a choice whether to work from home or from office, although some jobs can have specific conditions listed and it's not up to a person. And often, when you work remotely, there are some results expected from you regularly, but you aren't literally monitored by the company.
Now, let's look at the research information. One thing that stands out to me is that poeple were randomly picked and told that now they'll work from home. Again, I believe it should be a choice of an employee, not something mandated by the company, so perhaps if these were people who worked at the office but were suddenly told to work from home, they fell under the category of those to whom remote work is less preferable. Secondly, they did snaps of workers every 15 minutes, which I bet is a stressful thing to go through. It can add anxiety and discomfort that doesn't exist in the office setting, and that could easily contribute to worse productivity.
So to me, this research simply isn't representative because it was done in a specific way that could mess with the results.

[Abu-Naim]

These researchers found that if you work from home you will be less efficient and productive than people who from their office. Can we say the same about freelance workers?  Do you think that if workers are given the chance to "own" a task like freelancers they'll be more productive because it is just like being self-employed where you treat it as your business and not with the mindset of another man's business?

Depending on the type of work you are doing, some tasks may require your complete attention, which you might not have in your workplace, while others may require you to seek out the help of professionals, which you cannot accomplish from home.

Both of them have benefits and drawbacks, but some office workers would welcome the opportunity to work from home because, on occasion, the stress of driving to the workplace can be stressful.

[rat03gopoh]

Can we say the same about freelance workers?

I agree in most cases, actually it can be less or more depending on someone's typical. But there are freelancers who really manage to bring the office atmosphere into their homes. They have regular dedication hours and zero tolerance.
The solution is commitment and consistency to the arrangements that you make yourself, it can also involve several parties just to tell them your busy hour.

[Gozie51]

Do you think that if workers are given the chance to "own" a task like freelancers they'll be more productive because it is just like being self-employed where you treat it as your business and not with the mindset of another man's business?

It depends on the nature of job. Freelancing jobs for instance may not need instead delivery, you are given some time to produce what you are working on. In fact, working from home is more suitable for a freelancing job but if you work in an environment where you need to attend to people on a daily basis then you will be short of performance because you can't do such job in proxy, so it all depends. The research isn't correct as such. If you are a crypto investments analyst then you don't need to be at your office all day to do such job.

[Flexystar]

That is one study we expected after pandemic happened. It was blessing that almost every sector was able to make the work from home availability for us and we continued to survive on our salaries.

This study might be showing the data based on XYZ factors however it does not mention few aspects such as when we started work from there were hundreds of advantages to the companies that made their revenue go up enormously.

For example,

Consider IT company

- they saved money on their electricity bills
- their AC units were shut
- their desktops, laptops and lights were turned off
- canteens appliances turned off
- daily punch system and almost every electronic stuff was turned off

They saved a lot on their various chores.

So if employees were 18% down then probably they were up saving the money on above facts.

[slapper]

A study published by the American private nonprofit research organization the National Bureau of Economic Research found that the productivity of workers randomly assigned to work from home was 18% lower than that of those in the office.
https://africa.businessinsider.com/careers/new-research-finds-that-fully-remote-workers-are-less-productive-than-their-in-office/4vxn4sy

These researchers found that if you work from home you will be less efficient and productive than people who from their office.

In my opinion, such an opinion cannot be generalized to all jobs. Because we all know that work is not all in an office or in a factory building. But at home you can also do a job and of course it will be the same. Because the work has many branches and many types. From work that is specifically located in an office, to work that can be done at home.
So I think the research is not complex and not comprehensive in all fields of work.

Then not only that, sometimes there are typical people who are more comfortable working at home compared to working outside the home such as in a factory or office. So if you look at this factor, the research is clearly refuted. Maybe for people who are used to working in an office, it can indeed reduce their work performance a little, but maybe that will only happen in a few days, and if you have adapted your work performance will definitely be normal.

For example, when the Covid 19 outbreak hit a few years ago, at that time due to social distancing rules and those related to the Covid 19 outbreak, many companies made all of their employees work from home. And this went on for quite a while, but even though the workers/employees did their work at home, for the majority, I'm sure they did a very good job.

Because the logic is like this, these employees definitely need money, which they get from their jobs, so automatically these employees will do their best so they don't get fired from their company.

Home office work is not identical to office work, strictly speaking. There are distinctions, nuances, and, of course, advantages. Remember water cooler conversations? What about the vigilant eye of the boss?

Then, when discussing the Covid-19 situation, you stated that everyone worked well from home; however, was this true? How do we know that? Perhaps they worked, but their efficacy and productivity fell short of expectations?

Also, employees working diligently to avoid termination is perhaps a bit of an oversimplification. Existe-t-il d'autres motivations? And what about those who might exploit the absence of surveillance?