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By Thierry Malleret, economist\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Experts\u00a0now\u00a0predict\u00a0that\u00a0in wealthier nations,\u00a0the future\u00a0is\u00a0at least partial\u00a0working\u00a0from home.\u00a0\u201cRemote-first\u201d\u00a0is\u00a0fast\u00a0gaining the upper hand because\u00a0a)\u00a0workers want it (people reject the wellbeing toll of commuting and want\u00a0more\u00a0agency over their work)\u2013and\u00a0b)\u00a0research shows that it boosts\u00a0productivity. But\u00a0the\u00a0work-from-home\u00a0shift\u00a0brings a new threat:\u00a0always-on work\u00a0and a further\u00a0erosion of\u00a0any line between\u00a0\u201clife\u201d\u00a0and work.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>A new\u00a0<\/span>study<\/span>\u00a0from the World Health Organization\u00a0shows that among the 2 million people that die from work-related causes a year, the biggest risk factor is long working hours\u2013which is\u00a0linked to a shocking 750,000 deaths. The remote work future will\u00a0fundamentally\u00a0change what \u201cworkplace wellness\u201d means.\u00a0It will be\u00a0less about wellness perks such as yoga classes and gym facilities and\u00a0more about meaningful employer policies and legislation\u00a0restricting the number of working hours, passing laws that recognize a\u00a0<\/span>worker\u2019s right not to be online all the time, and mandating paid leave.\u00a0(See the new laws in Portugal below.)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In wealthier nations,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>as working from home becomes the norm,<\/span>\u00a0\u201cremote-first\u201d is gaining the upper hand<\/span><\/b>.\u00a0For instance, in\u00a0February 2020, 5% of all US working hours were spent at home\u2013this\u00a0soared to 60% in May 2020 (during the lockdowns) and now\u00a0stands\u00a0at 40%. Figures are similar\u00a0around the world, and most experts expect that\u00a0<\/span>in the future we\u2019ll work from home for at least one to two days a week.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Over recent months, the assertions of those exhorting us<\/span>\u00a0not\u00a0<\/span><\/i>to do so,\u00a0such as\u00a0banks and governments, are less and less vehement.\u00a0<\/span>Working partially in a remote manner is inevitable<\/span><\/b>\u00a0for two reasons: 1)\u00a0workers want it (an obligation to be back full-time in the office is perceived as the equivalent of a 5%+ salary cut)\u00a0and\u00a02)\u00a0in the plethora of research on the subject, a consensus is emerging that\u00a0<\/span>working from home has a\u00a0<\/span><\/b>positive impact on productivity<\/span><\/b>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Companies will also benefit from decreased overheads, and those who don\u2019t catch the\u00a0\u201cremote-first\u201d trend will lose talent. The quest for improved daily wellbeing is a key driver of the\u00a0\u201cremote-first\u201d\u00a0idea. When possible, we want to work from home because it makes us feel better by reducing the need to commute (a wellbeing destroyer) and gives\u00a0us more agency over how and when we work (on\u00a0the\u00a0condition\u00a0that\u00a0we are not being monitored via our computer by our employer\u2013another wellbeing destroyer).\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For many, the benefits of homeworking are indisputable, but they are not without contingent risks: an\u00a0always on approach can mean no healthy delineation between work and home life. This is all the more relevant in light of a\u00a0recent\u00a0<\/span>study<\/span>\u00a0from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) which concludes that\u00a0<\/span>almost 2 million people die from work-related causes each year<\/span><\/b>. Shockingly, the occupational risk factor with the largest number of attributable deaths is the\u00a0<\/span>exposure to long working hours,\u202flinked to approximately 750,000 deaths per year<\/span><\/b>\u00a0(the WHO\/ILO study considers long-working hours\u202fto be anything\u202fupwards of 55 hours).\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Hopefully these findings will be a wake-up call that will eventually\u00a0<\/span>broaden the scope of what wellness at work means both in and out of the office<\/span><\/b>. It will be less about wellness perks such as yoga, meditation, free meals, and gym facilities at work, and more about\u00a0<\/span>societal solutions<\/span><\/b>\u00a0like restricting the number of working hours, passing laws that recognize a\u00a0<\/span>worker\u2019s right not to be online all the time, and mandating paid leave.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Thierry Malleret, economist\u00a0 Experts\u00a0now\u00a0predict\u00a0that\u00a0in wealthier nations,\u00a0the future\u00a0is\u00a0at least partial\u00a0working\u00a0from home.\u00a0\u201cRemote-first\u201d\u00a0is\u00a0fast\u00a0gaining the upper hand because\u00a0a)\u00a0workers want it (people reject the wellbeing toll of commuting and want\u00a0more\u00a0agency over their work)\u2013and\u00a0b)\u00a0research shows that it boosts\u00a0productivity. But\u00a0the\u00a0work-from-home\u00a0shift\u00a0brings a new threat:\u00a0always-on work\u00a0and a further\u00a0erosion of\u00a0any line between\u00a0\u201clife\u201d\u00a0and work.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0A new\u00a0study\u00a0from the World Health Organization\u00a0shows that among the 2 million people that die from work-related causes a year, the… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":26486,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"content-type":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-news","wpautop","clearfix"],"yoast_head":"\n