Managers found that company productivity improved under a companywide teleworking policy, with the strongest ratings on productivity improvement made from managers of firms in “hybrid” models, where workers share time between the home and office.

Fact of the Week: Teleworking Options Are Expected to Remain Available After COVID-19 for 70 Percent of Workforces Employed in Knowledge-Intensive Services

The adoption of technologies like smart phones and cloud computing has made it less important for people many occupations to do their work onsite where their companies are located. Data from the American Time Use Survey reflects this trend and suggests that working remotely has not increased the total hours spent working, on average.

Fact of the Week: Professionals Averaged 5.4 Hours Per Week Working at Home From 2013 to 2017, a 38 Percent Increase From 2003 to 2007

Emerging technologies promise to bring about a new production revolution that will increase welfare throughout society, but it is expected to have the largest impact on low-productivity jobs. This could increase the proportion of high-paying and high-productivity jobs, but it also threatens a larger disruption to society, as lower-skill workers have more difficulties changing industries.

Fact of the Week: 72 Percent of Jobs Created in the U.S. from 2010 to 2016 Were Below Average in Both Compensation and Productivity

NBER finds that within their first decade of a disruptive new technology’s invention and adoption, the average incomes of workers hired for jobs that use the technology drops by 15 percent as adoption of the technology spreads from a few comparatively high-skill occupations to more and lower-skill occupations.

Fact of the Week: Average Pay for Job Postings Involving a New Technology Decreases 15 Percent in the First Decade, Showing How Technologies Spread From High-Skilled to Lower-Skilled Occupations

Greater diffusion of home broadband since the early 2000s has been especially beneficial toward married women seeking to join the labor force, writes John Wu in Innovation Files.

Fact of the Week: Married Women In America Are 4.1 Percentage Points More Likely Than Single Women To Enter The Workforce When They Have Broadband Service At Home

A report finds that firms that are 125 miles from the closest AI hotspot, defined as an area with over 1000 AI publications or patents, experienced 17 percent lower AI job growth between 2007 and 2019.

Fact of the Week: Commuting Areas Far From AI Hotspots Experienced 17 Percent Lower Growth in AI Jobs

While a labor shortage may drive up the cost of labor in the short run, in the long run it results in increased labor productivity and reduced prices.

Fact of the Week: Labor Shortages Increase Investment in Automation and Result in Productivity Gains for Some Firms

Although online freelance work will certainly keep growing in the years ahead, policymakers and businesses should see it as temporary work for small projects, rather than a new source of sustainable, long-term job creation.

Fact of the Week: Online Freelance Labor Platforms Have Registered an Estimated 163 Million Profiles Worldwide

A survey conducted in November 2024 finds that 20.5 percent of workers who used generative AI at least once over the previous week reported saving four hours or more in work time.

Fact of the Week: The Share of Job Postings in the US Allowing Remote and Hybrid Work Arrangements Has More Than Tripled Since 2019

Editors’ Recommendations

It’s Not Up for Debate. Remote and Hybrid Are the Future of Work—Even for Federal Employees

Telecommute Nation: If Half of Us Could Work Remotely, Why Don’t We?

Seven Ways to Make Remote Work Successful Beyond COVID-19

Related

Fact of the Week: Teleworking Options Are Expected to Remain Available After COVID-19 for 70 Percent of Workforces Employed in Knowledge-Intensive Services

Fact of the Week: Professionals Averaged 5.4 Hours Per Week Working at Home From 2013 to 2017, a 38 Percent Increase From 2003 to 2007

Fact of the Week: 72 Percent of Jobs Created in the U.S. from 2010 to 2016 Were Below Average in Both Compensation and Productivity