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The effects of remote work on collaboration among information workers

Author

Listed:
  • Longqi Yang

    (Microsoft Corporation)

  • David Holtz

    (University of California
    MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy)

  • Sonia Jaffe

    (Microsoft Corporation)

  • Siddharth Suri

    (Microsoft Corporation)

  • Shilpi Sinha

    (Microsoft Corporation)

  • Jeffrey Weston

    (Microsoft Corporation)

  • Connor Joyce

    (Microsoft Corporation)

  • Neha Shah

    (Microsoft Corporation)

  • Kevin Sherman

    (Microsoft Corporation)

  • Brent Hecht

    (Microsoft Corporation)

  • Jaime Teevan

    (Microsoft Corporation)

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused a rapid shift to full-time remote work for many information workers. Viewing this shift as a natural experiment in which some workers were already working remotely before the pandemic enables us to separate the effects of firm-wide remote work from other pandemic-related confounding factors. Here, we use rich data on the emails, calendars, instant messages, video/audio calls and workweek hours of 61,182 US Microsoft employees over the first six months of 2020 to estimate the causal effects of firm-wide remote work on collaboration and communication. Our results show that firm-wide remote work caused the collaboration network of workers to become more static and siloed, with fewer bridges between disparate parts. Furthermore, there was a decrease in synchronous communication and an increase in asynchronous communication. Together, these effects may make it harder for employees to acquire and share new information across the network.

Suggested Citation

  • Longqi Yang & David Holtz & Sonia Jaffe & Siddharth Suri & Shilpi Sinha & Jeffrey Weston & Connor Joyce & Neha Shah & Kevin Sherman & Brent Hecht & Jaime Teevan, 2022. "The effects of remote work on collaboration among information workers," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 6(1), pages 43-54, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nathum:v:6:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41562-021-01196-4
    DOI: 10.1038/s41562-021-01196-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dingel, Jonathan I. & Neiman, Brent, 2020. "How many jobs can be done at home?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    2. Erik Brynjolfsson & John J. Horton & Adam Ozimek & Daniel Rock & Garima Sharma & Hong-Yi TuYe, 2020. "COVID-19 and Remote Work: An Early Look at US Data," NBER Working Papers 27344, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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