This fifth blog entry related to our Organizational Behaviour class is based on the following article, titled "Early Remote Work Impacts on Family Formation", written by Mr. Lyman Stone and Mr. Adam Ozimek, and published by Economic Innovation Group, on March 07, 2023 (https://eig.org/remote-work-family-formation/).
The
article reflects on how dramatically the increase of remote work over the last
couple of years has impacted society and the economy in such a way that it will
be very difficult to ever go back to the base line as it was prior to the Covid
19 pandemic. Within such reflection, the authors go on to analyze that, even
though there have certainly been negative outcomes out of the whole pandemic
generated ordeal, there has also been several positive consequences, such as
the fact that the sudden new remote-working mode arrangements enabled many
people and entire families to get to enjoy more quality time at home, without necessarily
leaving work unattended. Furthermore, having more flexible time to spend on
their personal and family affairs boosted birth rates considerably, mainly on
women with higher economic power and education levels.
The
article points out that not only does remote work has enabled workers to enjoy
more flexibility regarding where to work, but also regarding when to, as their
performance tend to be measured more based on actual results and deliverables
than on how punctual they show up at a given location to render their services.
Hence, individuals are now further able to organize their overall schedules and
can balance out their professional and personal life in a healthier fashion.
The
authors then get statistically deeper in their analysis and try to break down some
interesting figures as to how, apparently, unmarried remote workers were noticeably
more prone to engage in marriage planning within the next year, and they
support this interpretation on the fact that remote workers have probable
higher migration rates than non-remote workers. At any rate, the article
concludes that there seems to be an impact created by remote work on how much
family formation intentions are likely to increase on women, mainly on older
women who already have kids, and in general how the higher quantities of remote
workers are impacting on fertility rates spikes.
As
far as how this article relates to myself personally, I would say that I have
witnessed close friends of mine, who used to have proud bachelor-like lifestyles,
getting suddenly married and becoming parents, coincidentally during and post
pandemic, as they were somehow feeling more vulnerable to loneliness and seemed
to want to tie the knots and settle for a family. So, I would say the article
does make sense, at least from the small sample I have been able to analyze
from real life.
Interesting topic Daniel. As a contribution, I can say that during the pandemic my situation was really stressful, no flexible hours and no choice when to do the job. I had to deal with working and taking care of our son from home at the same time and it was really difficult. I hope that now that the situation has changed, I can find a job that allows me to do it remotely and share more time with my family.
ResponderEliminarThanks for sharing. Good job!
I think this article highlights the significant societal and economic impact of the increase in remote work. The authors note both the negative and positive consequences of the pandemic, including the newfound quality time families enjoy due to remote work arrangements. The flexibility offered by remote work has led to higher birth rates, particularly among economically empowered and educated women. The article emphasizes that remote work not only allows for location flexibility but also enables workers to better balance their personal and professional lives in some cases.
ResponderEliminar