Working Paper: NBER ID: w30941
Authors: Yuting Chen; Patricia Corts; Gizem Koar; Jessica Pan; Basit Zafar
Abstract: We study how COVID-19 affected the prevalence, expectations, and attitudes toward remote work using specially designed surveys. The incidence of remote work remains higher than pre-pandemic levels and both men and women expect this to persist post-pandemic. Workers also report increased preference for remote work as a result of the pandemic. These changes are strongly correlated with individuals’ exposure to the pandemic induced work-from-home shock, indicating that experience with remote work during the pandemic likely shaped expectations and preferences toward WFH. The magnitude of the effects on preferences and expectations are similar across gender, marital status, and presence of children.
Keywords: COVID-19; remote work; worker preferences; expectations; labor market
JEL Codes: J22
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| COVID-19 exposure (I14) | remote work preferences (J29) |
| remote work incidence increase (J62) | expectations for remote work (J29) |
| pandemic work-from-home shock (J29) | remote work preferences (J29) |
| remote work experiences (J62) | expectations for remote work (J29) |