A12 The Region The Boston Globe FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 2019

States who work remotely at

least half the time grew 159

percent between 2005 and

2017, according to the organi-

zations’ analysis of census data.

The rise comes as technolo-

gy improves and job seekers in

a historically tight labor mar-

ket demand more flexibility —

and employers realize the ben-

efits of being able to hire peo-

ple who live anywhere. Tele-

commuting can also save com-

panies money by reducing the

amount of office space they

need, and ease traffic conges-

tion and pollution.

Just last week, Governor

Charlie Baker proposed giving

companies that allow telework

a $2,000-per-employee tax

credit to reduce the number of

cars on the road, which would

be the first such incentive in

the nation. Just 4.7 percent of

the state’s workforce telecom-

mutes full time, a lower share

than 19 other states, according

to FlexJobs.

Of course, working from

home doesn’t work for every-

one. Employees who work in

stores or handle products or

provide hands-on services have

to show up every day. And com-

panies have to provide the right

technology and communica-

tion tools to accommodate dis-

persed workforces.

In recent years, several ma-

jor corporations have generat-

ed headlines by rescinding poli-

cies allowing employees to tele-

commute. Yahoo, IBM, and

Best Buy were all struggling

when they brought workers

back to the office, and their

leaders noted a need for greater

collaboration and connection.

In July, the Environmental Pro-

tection Agency scaled back the

number of days employees are

allowed to work from home to

one day a week.

Those organizations proba-

bly didn’t have the proper tools

and support systems in place,

said Laurel Farrer, founder of

the Remote Work Association,

whose 300-plus members are

mostly managers and execu-

uWORKING FROM HOME

Continued from Page A

tives interested in improving

off-site work.

“Remote work is not all sun-

shine and rainbows,” she said,

noting that Dell and Microsoft

have huge populations of tele-

commuters and are thriving.

“It’s important for managers to

understand that.”

One of the biggest problems

is isolation, Farrer said — not

social, but informational. Many

companies don’t create specific

communication channels or

other protocols for teleworkers.

“Most conversations about

remote work are very shallow,”

she said. “ ‘You can work from

the beach, hurray!’ ” As a result,

workers can feel disconnected

and less valued than people

who are physically in the office.

In fact, according to a 2010

study, there is a bias against

people who work off-site. They

may get worse performance

evaluations, fewer promotions,

and smaller raises than their

co-workers in the office.

Research on the benefits of

remote work is mixed and

sometimes contradictory. A

number of studies show that it

increases productivity, though

not for highly collaborative

jobs. Some studies have found

that it reduces engagement and

retention, while others have

found telecommuting im-

proves these things. According

to Gallup’s 2017 State of the

American Workplace report,

engagement is highest when

employees spend three or four

days of a five-day week working

off-site but still get regular face-

time with co-workers and man-

agers.

Owl Labs, the Somerville

video conference company be-

hind Work From Home Week,

is seeking to raise awareness

about the challenges facing re-

mote workers and identify

ways to improve their experi-

ence. The company was started

by a frustrated remote worker

who had an “aha” moment

when, during a meeting, a co-

worker put the video equip-

ment on a swivel chair so it

could be rotated to allow off-

site employees to see who was

talking. The result: the Meeting

Owl, which has a 360-degree

camera that automatically fo-

cuses on the person speaking —

a tool frequently used by com-

panies with off-site workers.

“Those folks are sometimes

forgotten,” said Owl Labs chief

executive Frank Weishaupt,

who admitted that in many

years of running remote teams

for other companies he hadn’t

thought much about what their

actual work experience was

like. But now he tries to “equal-

ize the experience,” even send-

ing off-site employees Grubhub

gift cards when the company

orders lunch for employees.

About a third of the Owl

Labs staff works from home

full time, and another third

telecommutes part time.

Weishaupt, who comes to the

office every day, is encouraging

his fellow onsite employees to

work remotely this week.

About 25 companies around

the country are participating in

the work-from-home event,

and their feedback will be col-

lected when it’s over.

HubSpot, the Cambridge

marketing software firm,

which partnered with Owl Labs

on the event, is so focused on

its teleworkers — more than

200 full time, and hundreds

more who work from home

regularly — that in January it

named Meaghan Williams to

be its first remote work and in-

clusion program manager.

The company also has a

weekly “remote water cooler”

Zoom video conference for out-

of-office employees. Partici-

pants talk about the weather,

introduce their dogs — any-

thing but work, said Williams,

who works from her home in

Woburn three or four days a

week.

HubSpot also holds monthly

mixers to pair up off-site em-

ployees for one-on-one Zoom

chats, as well as a yoga class

and mentorship program via

video conference. And during

on-site events such as Bring

Your Kid to Work Day and

HubSpot’s employee apprecia-

tion week, the company sends

notes, gifts, and swag to remote

workers and their families.

“We want to make sure that

every employee feels valued,”

Williams said.

Baker, of Lola.com, spent

the first day of Work From

Home Week on his deck in East

Boston. And even though there

was construction noise, and he

missed the office air condition-

ing, he was able to spend sever-

al uninterrupted hours focused

on projects.

At work, people are always

coming up and asking him

questions, which is “the pro

and the con,” he said. In order

to preserve fruitful face-to-face

interactions, Baker imagines

he’ll still go into the office most

of the time, but he’s now con-

sidering working at home a few

days a month.

“It was nice to know,” he

said, “that I could open up my

screen, play my music, and

know that for the next two

hours nobody was going to be

tapping me on the shoulder.”

Katie Johnston can be reached

at [email protected].

Follow her on Twitter

@ktkjohnston.

Companies do homework

on working from home

DAVID L. RYAN/GLOBE STAFF

Mike Baker of Lola.com sampled the working-from-home life this week, trading in the

office for his deck in East Boston. He thinks he might stay home from time to time.

‘Most

conversations

aboutremotework

areveryshallow.

“Youcanwork

fromthebeach,

hurray!”’

LAUREL FARRER,founder of

the Remote Work Association

http://www.neenaslighting.com

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