- Economics
- Answering Challenges to Advanced Economies
Abstract: Remote work has expanded rapidly, but the value of regular in-person contact remains unclear. We report a randomized controlled trial in which a large multinational assigned 248 customer-service employees either to remain fully remote or to work from the office together one day per month. Monthly office days gradually increased productivity, with treated employees handling 7.8% more calls per hour at the end of the nine-month intervention. Office days also strengthened workplace communication: treated employees spent 36 additional minutes communicating with colleagues in the week after an office visit, were more likely to report receiving manager feedback, and employee pairs randomly assigned as desk neighbors were 11 percentage points more likely to communicate afterward. In addition, monthly office days reduced attrition by a third. The resulting gains in productivity and retention generated a benefit–cost ratio of 5:1. These findings show that even limited but coordinated in-person contact can improve communication, performance, and retention in remote teams.
