Ivory-Boyer Real Estate Center (IBREC) academic director and David Eccles School of Business professor of finance, Andra Ghent was a guest in November on a 1A podcast episode exploring trends and data around remote working. The podcast, produced by WAMU for National Public Radio and hosted by Jenn White, also featured Emma Goldberg, business feature writer for The New York Times. The conversation covered the push by corporations to get employees back to working on site. According to Goldberg, the real estate, banking, and finance industries are the most aggressive in requiring employees to work in person, while tech and startup companies are less so. This may be because larger companies have long-term leases and more capital invested in office space.

Ghent added that it is important to note that only 50% of the workforce actually has the capacity or ability to perform their jobs remotely. Of the 50% that are able to work remotely, a recent research paper co-authored by Ghent, showed that about 80% of companies have announced policies for a hybrid model, with 10% going fully in-person and 10% going fully remote. The research showed that factors affecting these numbers include cost of real estate (companies in cities with more expensive real estate tend to be less rigid on employees being on site), female leadership (more likely to have more flexible policies), age of leadership (older CEOs tend to want employees on site), and industries (tech being the industry most likely to establish fully remote working policies). The conversation continues with a look at the importance of work relationships and mentorship and many other factors dictating today’s remote work policies. Listen to the full episode, HERE.