33Bloomberg Businessweek December 21, 2020
R
achel Musiker was on
maternityleave, stuck in
atwo-bedroombasement
apartment with a newborn, when
Covid-19 started spreading in New
YorkCity.Herhusband,whoworksin
theinsuranceindustry,wasstillcom-
mutingonthesubway,soshestarted
makinghimshowerbeforeholdingthe
baby.“Itwasjuststartingtofeelunsafe
toevengoforwalks,”Musikersays.So,
onMarch14,theypackeda fewbags
anddrovetoRochester,N.Y.
Musikerhad loved herBrooklyn
neighborhood.Therentwasridicu-
lous,buttherewasa bistroa fewsteps
fromherapartmentthatserveda fabu-
lousbrunch(ifyouwerewillingtowait
fora table)anda daycarea half-block
awaywheresheplannedtosendthe
baby.Noneofthatmatterednow.The
daycaremightnotevenbeopenwhen
shewentbacktowork;brunchwasa
BeforeTimesindulgence.
Sheandherhusbandhadplanned
tostaywithherparentsfortwoweeks
inRochester.Theyendeduptherefor
nine.Afterwardtheyrenteda house
outsidetownonLakeOntario,and
Musikersettledbackintoherjobas
directorofcommunicationsatthereal
estateandtechnologycompanyRedfin
Corp.InAugustthecoupleboughta
four-bedroom,3,400-square-foothouse
for$355,000.
Therewasa timewhenthethought
ofrelocatingtoherhometownwould
havebeensomethingclosetoa night-
mareforMusiker.But,toherpleas-
antsurprise,Rochester wasn’tthat
bad. Her mom was helping with
childcare,itwaseasiertoshopfor
groceriesin a car,andtherewas a
straight-out-of-Brooklyncraftbrewery
nearby.“Itwasa wholebunchofyoung
peopleina fieldatpicnictablesdrink-
inginthemiddleoftheday,”shesays.
“Wecouldpictureit inWilliamsburg.”
Likemanypeopleduringthepan-
demic who could suddenly work
remotely,Musikerhadmovedwith-
outfiguringoutallthedetailswith
heremployer.Onethingtheyhadn’t
discussedwassalary.Now thatshe
livedinaninexpensive city,Redfin
asked,wouldshebewillingtoaccept
a paycut?
It’sa questionthat’sbeenfoisted
onmanywhite-collaremployees.In
Februaryonly8%oftheU.S.work-
forcedidtheirjobentirelyfromhome,
accordingtoresearchfromtheFederal
ReserveBankofDallas.It spikedto35%
inMay,asofficesstayedclosedand
workersfledtolessdenselypopulated
areas.Thework-from-homeratehas
fallena bitsinceandwilldropfurther
asvaccinesaredistributed.Buta sub-
stantialnumberofworkersarelikely
nevergoingbacktotheiroldoffices.
Thisshifthasbeenespeciallypro-
nouncedinthetechindustry,whichhas
a highconcentrationofemployeeswho
canworkfromanywherebutarebased
(fornow)inexpensivecoastalcities.
Facebook,Microsoft,andStripehave
announcedthatmoreemployeeswill
beabletoworkremotelyindefinitely.
LikeRedfin,thosecompaniesarealso
adjustingpayforworkerswhorelo-
cate.Musiker’ssalaryandbonuswill
godownabout20%nextyearifshe
staysinRochester.She’sresignedtothe
trade-off,atleastfornow.“Somuchin
theworldis nothowI thoughtit would
be,”shesays.What Musiker and workers like
herdointhelongruncouldbeone
of the lasting legacies of the pan-
demic.Iftheexodustosecondcities
and exurbs becomes permanent, it
has the potential to improve corpo-
rate balance sheets, remake labor
markets, and profoundly reshape
the American landscape. Millions of
upwardly mobile urban dwellers may
find that they can move out without
sacrificing their career ambitions. “It’s
only just started,” says Nick Bloom, an
economics professor at Stanford who
has studied work-from-home trends.
“There’s going to be a reverse of the
urban boom.”T
here are doubters, of course.
Jamie Dimon, Larry Fink,
and Reed Hastings—the
bosses of JPMorgan Chase, BlackRock,
and Netflix, respectively—have all
argued against the shift, suggesting, in
various ways, that remote employees
aren’t as productive, that corporate cul-
tures will be eroded, and that workers’
mental health could suffer.
Musiker’s boss, Glenn Kelman,
shares some of those concerns. The
Redfin chief executive officer loves his
company’s Seattle headquarters, which
features catered meals and a video
game room, but he now wonders if he
was imposing his preferences on his
employees. “There’s a narcissism to
it,” he says, “that, if somehow they’re
in close proximity to me, we will share
some kind of weird energy.”
That’s part of why he set a new
corporate policy in August allow-
ing what Redfin calls “headquarters
employees”—the 1,000 or so peoplethe pandemic has meant that white-collar workers can
suddenly live anywhere. that will have implications for
pay—how does a 20% salary cut sound?—and could
reshape the u.s.
by noah buhayar