Recent return-to-office mandates have been partially predicated on the belief that employees are able to form richer relationships in person than they can working remotely. New research, however, found that remote work can actually make coworkers feel closer by giving them authentic glimpses into each others nonwork lives through video calls. The researchers analyze their findings to offer suggestions for managers considering the benefits — and costs — of calling employees back in.
Increasingly, employers are rolling back the remote work arrangements instituted during the Covid-19 pandemic. Companies such as Starbucks, Walmart, Google, JP Morgan Chase, and Amazon have called employees back into the office — some even mandating a five-day-a-week return-to-office (RTO) schedule.
