If workers can work at home and are substantially happier working at home, and the out-of-pocket costs are lower for both worker and employer, then remote work

If workers can work at home and are substantially happier working at home, and the out-of-pocket costs are lower for both worker and employer, then remote work will become established as a norm within a generation. It’s the way the First World has worked for generations…it really does evolve towards greater happiness for the greatest number of people. No reason the rest of the world wouldn’t follow. As it becomes a norm, then the thousands of details of how to maintain/improve company cultures, level of and support for remote work, training, team-building, residential housing design and costs, distributed operations in lower housing cost regions, cyber security, etc. will be the challenge that this generation of leaders must address. And they will because they are reasonably competent and it makes hundreds of millions of people happier. It’s a fun challenge to meet. When you succeed, you get to spend more quality time in your quality years with your family in a cheaper, pleasanter region of the country, or a different country altogether. Or stay where you are, if that’s your querencia. No need to move after retirement when you already love where you’re living…another societal savings. And if more family time doesn’t make some people happier, that’s a separate problem that shouldn’t be solved by escaping to a shiny building on the shareholder’s dime. Fixing the family also has direct societal benefits and saves taxpayers money when the State doesn’t need to intervene. And trying to convince people they’re really happier with the old model because you are too lazy to change, when they know themselves that they are not, never works in the long run. Ask the former Soviet Union.