Many U.S. workers have wholeheartedly embraced the flexibility and freedom of working from home, but new research suggests there may be a hidden downside to remote work, The New York Times reported April 24.
Remote workers may receive less feedback from their superiors compared to those in an office setting, according to a working paper from economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the University of Iowa in Iowa City and Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass.
Economists studied the performance of engineers at a large technology company. They found senior engineers were more productive with remote work, but junior engineers received less feedback on their code and some were more likely to quit.
"We find a now-versus-later trade-off associated with remote work," Emma Harrington, PhD, an economist at the University of Iowa, told the Times. "Particularly for junior engineers who are new to this particular firm, and younger engineers, they receive less feedback from their senior colleagues when they're remote."
This trend was especially prominent among female engineers, the economists found.
The research is one of the first major studies to suggest a professional consequence of working from home, the Times said. Though the findings are preliminary and not broadly applicable, researchers said they highlight the importance of in-office interactions in early-career development.
Read the full article here.