Great to see that there is emerging data in support of our comments on the risks of hybrid work that we highlighted in the fourth of our four part blog series on the topic. We continue to believe that the challenges are surmountable and can be synergistic. The burden falls on managers to reskill and be more effective with episodic co-located work experiences. It is equally important for aspiring younger professionals to seize the opportunity presented by the “proximity premium” and make the effort to be present (in person or through technology) when apprenticeship opportunities are available.
This is very valuable research highlighting an enormous risk in hybrid work. However, the solution is not polar, there are clear opportunities to take advantage of the new hybrid work programs and get the best of best worlds in a synergistic manner. It will take creative problem solving, dedication, iteration and failure, and persistence to get there.
‘“We find a now-versus-later trade-off associated with remote work,” said Ms. Harrington, an economist at the University of Iowa. “Particularly for junior engineers who are new to this particular firm, and younger engineers, they receive less feedback from their senior colleagues when they’re remote.”
The study’s findings are preliminary and relatively narrow, directly measuring just one form of interaction among one set of workers at one technology firm. But the authors said their findings suggested something broader: that the office, at least for a certain type of white-collar knowledge worker, played an important role in early-career development. And the mentorship and training people get in person had so far proved hard to replicate on Slack and Zoom.
Excellent reporting by Emma Goldberg and Ben Casselman.