Editing Remote work (section)

{{Short description|Employees working from any location}}
{{Redirect2|Work from home|WFH|other uses|Work from Home (disambiguation)|and|WFH (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
[[File:Home-based_worker_percentage_2019.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.35|alt=map of 2019 global home-based workers|Percentage of workforce that was home-based in 2019]]
[[File:There_is_a_strong_feeling_that_most_of_us_will_be_working_from_home_in_20_years_to_help_save_the_planet.jpg|thumb|Most respondents to the same climate survey in 2021–2022 believe that most of us will be working from home in 20 years to help save the planet.]]
[[File:USMC-100324-M-6847A-001.jpg|thumb|right|The [[United States Marine Corps]] began allowing remote work in 2010.]]
'''Remote work''' (also called '''telecommuting''', '''telework''', '''work from''' or '''at home''', '''WFH''' as an initialism, '''hybrid work''', and other terms) is the practice of [[work (human activity)|working]] at or from one's [[home]] or [[Third place|another space]] rather than from an [[office]] or workplace.

The practice of working at home has been documented for centuries, but remote work for large employers began on a small scale in the 1970s, when technology was developed which could link satellite offices to downtown mainframes through [[dumb terminal]]s using telephone lines as a [[network bridge]]. It became more common in the 1990s and 2000s, facilitated by internet technologies such as [[collaborative software]] on [[cloud computing]] and [[conference call]]ing via [[videotelephony]]. In 2020, [[workplace hazard controls for COVID-19]] catalyzed a rapid transition to remote work for white-collar workers around the world, which largely persisted even after restrictions were lifted.

Proponents of having a geographically '''distributed workforce''' argue that it reduces costs associated with maintaining an office, grants employees autonomy and flexibility that improves their motivation and job satisfaction, eliminates environmental harms from commuting, allows employers to draw from a more geographically diverse pool of applicants, and allows employees to relocate to a place they would prefer to live.

Opponents of remote work argue that remote telecommunications technology has been unable to replicate the advantages of [[face-to-face interaction]], that employees may be more easily distracted and may struggle to maintain [[work–life balance]] without the physical separation, and that the reduced social interaction may lead to feelings of isolation.