America’s productivity boom started before AI, and a Stanford economist who decoded the Great Resignation says working from home is the reason why | Fortune
https://fortune.com/2026/05/15/america-productivity-boom-stanford-economist-nicholas-bloom-remote-work-future/
27 Comments
Stating the obvious.
Someone tell that to my CEO who just this year brought us back to the office full time
Yet companies keep mandating RTO. The worst part is that there’s no reasoning with the people who make these decisions.
Seems like a complete market failure because so many companies are cutting WFH
If a company looks at the data it shows exactly that.
No shit, do they not think the 1.5 hours of unpaid driving time comes out of their productivity? Cause I’m not doing it for fun
My wife just changed jobs, office 4 days a week wfh 1 day. Her productivity has dropped like a stone. Office politics, needless in person meetings, distractions, etc.
I’ve WFH since 2000, but I’ll go into one of our offices a few times a month. Everytime I go in I’m as productive as a brick. Only reason I go in is to just see people from time to time… then I immediately regret it. 🙂
it’s not about the money! it’s about the control. what incentive is there now to even care about a company when you know you’re training an ai to replace not just you but every human after you too? When this goes sideways will be our opportunity to demand better not just jump at their empty promises.
I am a mix of in the office and work from home and I am at least twice as productive at home.. constant interruptions in the office. Not to mention I can basically roll out of bed and start working from home vs. Spending two hours getting ready and driving to work and getting settled in before I start anything.
Corporations do not have to act reasonably or rationally. They can do contradictory things. They don’t even need to be real, they just have to fake it so the stocks go up.
Workers are most efficient when having flexible working conditions. Some in office, some at home, some mix of the two, but they need bodies in buildings, so “collaboration.”
But also, we’re actively working towards replacing everybody with AI, so *no* bodies in buildings.
But also, AI will make you a better worker? So use AI in everything you do.
But also, AI is making lots of people’s workloads more difficult because it doesn’t do the things it claims it can do. Use it anyway.
But also, gas, food and utilities are so expensive because of AI data centers and war, but you still have to come in, burn the fuel, and use the AI despite none of these things increasing your output, therefore we can’t increase your pay.
It’s a death spiral of a civilization.
I get less work done in the office than I do at home because I’m actually talking to my co workers
Obvious things that corporate overlords ignore for $100, Alex.
Who would have thought that not stressing out through commuting and shitty colleagues you’d produce more?
There can be an argument for RTO mandates, and Hybrid is a fair compromise. Vast majority of the time however? WFH is just the optimal approach. Save money on gas, save money on the building expenses, and with the right setup isn’t so different from working in the office.
But they’re not interested in optimal. Only what’s expedient. RTO mandates aren’t for culture. They’re thinly veiled attempts to make people quit in lieu of layoffs
They even did studies on the four day work week that showed it increased productivity. Employers would rather you work 12 hours in office every day even if it reduces productivity. Hmm
I remember one job they allowed staggered hours for a while. So you could come in early or late and leave early or late. Just not having to sit in traffic for hours was huge. I think the stress reduction from less of that even. But if didn’t last. I remember a manager at another place saying he was fine with give time. You can come in any time before seven and leave anytime after seven. Thought he was so funny. They don’t care is what I see most. It’s not about productivity.
I remember for years as a consultant I saw remote workers as a great option. Of course, depending on the work and workers. Different projects so not always the same. For parts where you are doing lots of heads down coding though it’s a no brainer. Multiple countries even as long as the work is good. In some cases where I was allowed and just was on site occasionally I have to think they saw the huge benefit every week. Flights, hotel, daily expenses on top of being distracted to much when on site made things less efficient not better.
It’s certainly not universal but for many cases remote work for large portions of projects is obviously better.
Gee, instead of driving 3 hours to and from the office, I could use that time to actually work. Who would’ve thought I’d be more productive? 🙃
No fucking shit, but the capitalists forgot that increasing productivity over time is the best business model, not curring labor costs
Everybody knows that productivity went through the roof during COVID because everyone was working from home and there were no more work distractions or unnecessary interruptions. The only reason companies want employees back in the office is because middle managers realized they’re unnecessary. Employee’s working from home don’t need to be monitored or managed. They’ll actually get more work done more efficiently without management interrupting them.
Gaslighting
My employer wants us to push work on AI hard but most people can only access Claude models on the 2-3 days we wfh, because our office network admins are blocking it.
Wow who could have thought people would be more productive when the means of production are owned by the people?
Any worker could have told you that. Our entire company is remote and is way more productive that any in office company I’ve ever worked at. I mean it would be impossible for us to have an office since we’re scattered all over the world, but I’m reminded every day how ridiculous offices are for most work. Of course people who actually build things or do molecular research or otherwise have a real job, this is all moot. But for all of us office fakers pushing bits and bytes around, offices are completely obsolete.
Pretty much anyone in the know, knows. What’s concerning is how much the corporate media is invested in telling us otherwise.
I’m absolutely, 100% more productive working from home. There are fewer distractions. I can focus more and tune out the noise of an office.
I’m so much more productive not having to sit through 10+ hours of rush hour traffic per week. I clock on fully rested and not dreading a stressful commute. Given current prices, saves me around $150 per week in gas, and $75 in weekly parking. The company already did all meetings over Teams, and only really saw my coworkers in person maybe once a month at the odd half hour break room meetup. Absolutely no justification for going to an office to do my job, and only greater quality of work and quality of life to be had for remote working.
I remember hearing CEOs and billionaires upset during Covid how people were feeling empowered and wanting WFH. It seems the all hands on deck for AI was their attempt to put us in our place
I went from a company that was 100% in the office all the time with zero flexibility to a company that sold their office when Covid hit and decided to pay workers more with that money and just let them work from home.
I couldn’t be happier.