Vaccine May Not Bring Americans Back to Offices
2020-12-21
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1We are now ten months into a pandemic that has changed work-life balance for a lot of people.
2And many Americans say they are doing well in their home offices and dining room workstations.
3Most want to continue working from home after the pandemic.
4Several kinds of businesses that had depended on office workers may be affected.
5For instance, many office workers attended weekly happy hours or paid for their clothing to be dry cleaned.
6These are the findings of new studies published by the Pew Research Center and the University of Chicago's Becker Friedman Institute.
7The Pew study of 5,800 working adults in mid-October found that the change has been easy for most.
8They have remained productive.
9And, on balance, it has given people more control over how they use their time.
10That is different from the common ideas that home offices are full of technical problems and family distractions.
11Not everyone is happy, of course.
12More younger workers reported trouble keeping up the desire to work.
13And parents found it more difficult to work without distractions since many schools are closed due to the pandemic.
14But even so, the Pew study found, the move to working from home "has been relatively easy for many employed adults."
15Kim Parker, Juliana Horowitz and Rachel Minkin are Pew researchers.
16They wrote that the fact that people are doing well working from home may mean a big shift in how the workforce operates in the future.
17In the coming months, the coronavirus vaccine may force U.S. companies to make a few decisions.
18These include whether to keep renting office space, let people work where they choose, or make a plan that includes both.
19It will also answer questions about whether the changes in behavior will stay or go once the risk of being in public has eased.
20The study published by the Becker Friedman Institute also found that work from home "will likely stick."
21And it estimated that maybe 22 percent of all workdays will be "supplied from home" after the pandemic.
22That is a major shift and, in the future, could affect office building owners as well as eating places.
23Some experts say that the pandemic's "mass social experiment" will cut spending in major city centers as much as 10 percent permanently.
24They include Nick Bloom of Stanford University, Steven Davis of the University of Chicago and Jose Barrero of Mexico's Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo.
25The idea of ignoring work responsibilities from home has disappeared.
26The technology for performing these duties has improved quickly.
27And companies and employees have adapted, the research found.
28Firms have changed their technological set-ups to help workers do their jobs.
29And the average worker, the study found, has spent about $660 on equipment for their home setup.
30Out of 15,000 people who replied from May to October, most said they were as productive at home, if not more so, than they were in their office.
31And they would like to keep working from home at least two days a week in the future.
32The dollar value of that is meaningful.
33Nearly half of workers said the ability to stay home two or three days a week was worth up to 15 percent of their pay.
34The two studies shared other common conclusions, including that the ability to work from home is not shared by everyone.
35Who gets to enjoy work from home? The University of Chicago group found it is mostly men, higher earners, and highly-educated workers.
36I'm Alice Bryant.
1We are now ten months into a pandemic that has changed work-life balance for a lot of people. And many Americans say they are doing well in their home offices and dining room workstations. Most want to continue working from home after the pandemic. 2Several kinds of businesses that had depended on office workers may be affected. For instance, many office workers attended weekly happy hours or paid for their clothing to be dry cleaned. 3These are the findings of new studies published by the Pew Research Center and the University of Chicago's Becker Friedman Institute. 4The Pew study of 5,800 working adults in mid-October found that the change has been easy for most. They have remained productive. And, on balance, it has given people more control over how they use their time. That is different from the common ideas that home offices are full of technical problems and family distractions. 5Not everyone is happy, of course. More younger workers reported trouble keeping up the desire to work. And parents found it more difficult to work without distractions since many schools are closed due to the pandemic. 6But even so, the Pew study found, the move to working from home "has been relatively easy for many employed adults." 7Kim Parker, Juliana Horowitz and Rachel Minkin are Pew researchers. They wrote that the fact that people are doing well working from home may mean a big shift in how the workforce operates in the future. 8In the coming months, the coronavirus vaccine may force U.S. companies to make a few decisions. These include whether to keep renting office space, let people work where they choose, or make a plan that includes both. 9It will also answer questions about whether the changes in behavior will stay or go once the risk of being in public has eased. 10Here to stay 11The study published by the Becker Friedman Institute also found that work from home "will likely stick." And it estimated that maybe 22 percent of all workdays will be "supplied from home" after the pandemic. 12That is a major shift and, in the future, could affect office building owners as well as eating places. Some experts say that the pandemic's "mass social experiment" will cut spending in major city centers as much as 10 percent permanently. They include Nick Bloom of Stanford University, Steven Davis of the University of Chicago and Jose Barrero of Mexico's Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo. 13Why permanent? 14The idea of ignoring work responsibilities from home has disappeared. The technology for performing these duties has improved quickly. And companies and employees have adapted, the research found. Firms have changed their technological set-ups to help workers do their jobs. And the average worker, the study found, has spent about $660 on equipment for their home setup. 15Out of 15,000 people who replied from May to October, most said they were as productive at home, if not more so, than they were in their office. And they would like to keep working from home at least two days a week in the future. 16The dollar value of that is meaningful. Nearly half of workers said the ability to stay home two or three days a week was worth up to 15 percent of their pay. 17The two studies shared other common conclusions, including that the ability to work from home is not shared by everyone. 18Who gets to enjoy work from home? The University of Chicago group found it is mostly men, higher earners, and highly-educated workers. 19I'm Alice Bryant. 20Reuters news agency wrote this story. Alice Bryant adapted it for Learning English. Sue Shand was the editor. 21_______________________________________________________________ 22Words in This Story 23happy hour - n. a time at a bar when drinks are sold at a lower price than usual 24distraction - n. something that makes it difficult to think or pay attention 25shift - n. a change in position or direction 26rent - v. to pay money in return for being able to use something that belongs to someone else (gerund: renting) 27adapt - v. to change your behavior so that it is easier to live in a particular place or situation