Editing Remote work (section)

===Increased productivity===
Remote work has long been promoted as a way to substantially increase employee [[productivity]]. A 2013 study showed a 13% increase in productivity among remotely working call-center employees at a Chinese travel agency. An analysis of data collected through March 2021 found that nearly six out of 10 workers reported being more productive working from home than they expected to be, compared with 14% who said they got less done.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.chicagobooth.edu/review/are-we-really-more-productive-working-home | title=Are We Really More Productive Working from Home? | first=Rebecca | last=Stropoli | work=[[University of Chicago Booth School of Business]] | date=August 18, 2021}}</ref>

Since work hours are less regulated in remote work, [[Employee engagement|employee effort and dedication]] are far more likely to be measured purely in terms of output or results. However, traces of non-productive work activities (such as research, self-training, dealing with technical problems or equipment failures), and time lost on unsuccessful attempts (such as early drafts, fruitless endeavors, abortive innovations), are visible to employers.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

Remote work improves efficiency by reducing or eliminating employees commute time, thus increasing their availability to work.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.lucidchart.com/blog/how-remote-work-can-be-more-productive | title=How remote work can be more productive than in-person work | work=[[Lucidchart]]| date=May 21, 2020 }}</ref><ref name=impact/> In addition, remote work also helps employees achieve a better work-life balance.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Powell |first=Jessica |date=September 25, 2020 |title=Opinion {{!}} The Rise of Remote Work Can Be Unexpectedly Liberating |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/25/opinion/remote-work-from-home-office.html |access-date=November 23, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

An increase in productivity is also supported by [[sociotechnical system]]s (STS) theory (1951), which states that, unless absolutely essential, there should be minimal specification of objectives and how to do tasks in order to avoid inhibiting options or effective actions.<ref name="Torraco">{{cite journal | doi=10.1002/hrdq.1125 | title=Work design theory: A review and critique with implications for human resource development | date=March 9, 2005 | last1=Torraco | first1=Richard J. | journal=Human Resource Development Quarterly | volume=16 | pages=85–109}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1177/001872675100400101 | title=Some Social and Psychological Consequences of the Longwall Method of Coal-Getting | year=1951 | last1=Trist | first1=Eric Lansdown | author-link1=Eric Trist | last2=Bamforth | first2=K. W. | journal=Human Relations | volume=4 | pages=3–38 | s2cid=145434302}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1177/001872678704000303 | title=Principles of Sociotechnical Design Revisted | year=1987 | last1=Cherns | first1=Albert | journal=[[Human Relations (journal)|Human Relations]] | volume=40 | issue=3 | pages=153–161 | s2cid=145140507}}</ref> Remote work provides workers with the freedom and power to decide how and when to do their tasks and therefore can increase productivity.<ref name=consequences>{{cite journal | url=https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/apl-9261524.pdf | doi=10.1037/0021-9010.92.6.1524 | pmid=18020794 | title=The good, the bad, and the unknown about telecommuting: Meta-analysis of psychological mediators and individual consequences | year=2007 | last1=Gajendran | first1=Ravi S. | last2=Harrison | first2=David A. | journal=[[Journal of Applied Psychology]] | volume=92 | issue=6 | pages=1524–1541| s2cid=6030172 }}</ref>