For most corporate leaders, one of the most important debates of the pandemic has been its impact on worker productivity. After all, no one had ever seen anything like the great Work From Office (WFO) to Work From Home (WFH) migration that took place in 2020. As the pandemic comes to an end, a growing divide pits those who want to maintain or even expand WFH models against those who believe that workers should return to the office.

Various articles during 2020 suggested that "white-collar" worker productivity had increased during the crisis, as commutes disappeared and workers had more time and flexibility in shaping their workday. However, new research from Michael Gibbs (Chicago), Friederike Mengel (Essex), and Christoph Siemroth (Essex) challenges these early optimistic assessments. With WFH looking to continue, and with many companies worrying about its implications on their businesses, this research provides leaders the first extensive empirical foundation for understanding the pandemic's effects on the productivity of highly skilled workers.