Impacts and Integration of Remote-First Working Environments

TL;DR

This paper examines the effects of remote-first work environments on employee well-being, communication, and relationships, highlighting challenges for seasoned employees and managers, with mixed impacts on productivity.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of remote-first work impacts, especially on communication, trust, and employee well-being, based on recent data and observations.

Findings

Seasoned employees and managers face more adjustment challenges.

Software development productivity remains stable.

Communication and employee well-being decline impact overall effectiveness.

Abstract

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 or other business decisions, remote work is becoming increasingly popular. "Remote first" working environments exist within companies where most employees work remotely. This paper takes a deep dive into the remote-first mentality. It investigates its effects on employees at varying stages in their careers, day-to-day productivity, and working relationships with team members. We found that the remote-first mentality most impacts seasoned employees and managers, potentially due to trouble adjusting to a new way of working compared to the rest of their careers and the "always on" mentality associated with working from home. Regarding productivity, we found that while software development productivity appears unimpacted, the effectiveness of communication and employee wellbeing saw declines which are generally associated with lowered productivity. Finally, we looked closer at the communication side of things and how remote work impacts relationship building. We found that the most significant impacts on relationship building centered around "trust" and "credibility" being harder to build due to a lack of non-verbal cues during social interactions.