How Remote Work Is Reshaping the Office

We examine how office work changed with the move to hybrid/remote operations through 38 group interviews covering roughly 760 employees of a multinational company across 3 countries. The most important finding may be a shift in focus of employees toward their own individual tasks and away from help-giving and collaborative tasks. The social ties that made seeking help and giving it a simple, informal process weakened and continue to erode with onboarding challenges and extensive time spent in dysfunctional virtual meetings. Shrinking of office space, “hoteling,” and lack of enforcement over attendance made rebuilding relationships difficult.