The Tenuous Relationship Between Working From Home and Job Performance

Abstract

The COVID-19 crisis has led to massive increases in working from home (WFH), compelling many individuals to telecommute in challenging circumstances. Further, the strong emphasis on WFH is likely to continue after the pandemic. In this study, we examine the impact of WFH on job performance before and during the COVID-19 crisis. Using longitudinal data on patent examiners at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, we assess the WFH efficacy under various conditions, such as self-selection into WFH, degree of WFH, transition to a WFH mandate, and the passage of time during that mandate. Results show an overall detrimental impact of the WFH mandate on job performance. Even individuals who initially opted into WFH can suffer job performance reduction when circumstances worsen and presumably due to prior expectations for the WFH setting being unmet. However, we also find that such performance decline begins to recover over time, suggesting individual and organizational learning. Although the pandemic is an extreme example of unfavorable circumstances, our study suggests a more tenuous relationship between WFH and job performance than emerges in literature generally focused on voluntary WFH and favorable context.