Hybrid Workplace: The Insights You Need from Harvard Business Review

4 DON’T LOSE THE DEMOCRATIZING EFFECT OF REMOTE WORK

by Joan C. Williams, Rachel M. Korn, and Mikayla Boginsky

A silver lining of the pandemic was the democratization of access to remote work. Before the pandemic, remote work was typically limited to highly paid professionals. But during the pandemic, we learned that remote work is possible in many lower-ranked jobs: in administrative roles, government jobs, or any desk job or phone job or internet job.

Unfortunately, we hear persistent reports that all too many employers are rescinding the right to remote work for lower-paid employees even as they create “anywhere jobs” for more highly paid employees. On our helpline at the Center for WorkLife law, we’ve heard from employees who have worked ...