The Remote Work Debate, Fact-Checked: What Studies Actually Show About Remote Work

Is remote work more productive, or less? Does the office build careers, or just commutes? Both camps in the work-from-home versus return-to-office debate cite real research, and both are right about different things. This talk sorts the best evidence, from randomized experiments to studies of what happens after companies order everyone back, and asks three questions of every headline number: who was studied, which direction they moved, and how long anyone watched. You will vote on what you think the studies show before we start and see how the room scored at the end. The final part of the session turns to my own research, using twenty years of American time diaries, on what the shift to working from home did inside households, and whether where people work changes who raises the kids.

Speaker:

Dr. Keith Pennington is an assistant professor of Management in the College of Business and Management at Metro State University. He holds a PhD in Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship from the University of Minnesota, and came to academia after a career in the medical device industry and as an entrepreneur. His research uses large-scale data on patents, time use, and collaboration networks to study how people innovate and work together, with recent projects on the economics of invention, remote work, and fatherhood.

METRO’s Career Competency Presentation Focus:

• Digital Literacy
• Continuous Learning and Career Management

Lunch and Learn is part of an ongoing monthly series of presentations and discussions hosted by the College of Business and Management. This conversation is open to all educators, administrators, instructional designers, and students of Minnesota State Education System.

Meet new faculty, gather with long-time friends from across Minnesota State, and bring your questions and ideas to these monthly gatherings, which will include a presentation and possibly opportunities for both large and small group discussions. For additional information please contact the organizers, Dr. Erica Berte or Dr. Foluso Ayeni. We thank Michelle Krone, CBM support staff, for assisting with this initiative.