Elon Musk calls working from home morally wrong. Google has begun including office attendance in its employees’ performance reviews. Amazon’s chief executive, Andy Jassy, who previously seemed relaxed about remote work, told staff last month that “it’s probably not going to work out” for them at Amazon unless they come in “at least three days a week”.
The corporate backlash against working from home is cheered on by many jealous retirees who spent 40 years in offices. But we should treat remote work as much more than a corporate issue. It’s a rare chance to create a better society.
Bosses who oppose homeworking tend to argue from economic efficiency. However, it’s unclear why we should optimise societies for gross domestic product. Americans have higher average incomes than almost all Europeans, but they also emit far more CO? per capita, don’t have guaranteed paid vacations and live seven years less than Spaniards.