There is a growing divide in who works from home. Research on job listings shows that remote work is much more common for higher-paying jobs, jobs that require more experience, full-time jobs, and jobs that require more education. I did. Managers need to be aware of this rift, as it can create toxic dynamics within the team and reduce morale.
Since the start of the pandemic, remote work has skyrocketed, and employees are also preferring it. As I speak to hundreds of managers about this development, one concern keeps coming up. It’s that the transition to remote work has been highly unequal. Front-line staff, who are poorly paid, are unlikely to benefit from working from home. Instead, they commute daily to interact with customers and coworkers, operate machinery, and care for facilities. In contrast, a highly paid professional or manager often works from home two or three days a week, saving time and money and reducing stress. Business leaders are right to worry that this rift could hurt front-line staff morale, undermine perceptions of fairness, and create new rifts in the workforce.
