Introduction to Remote and Hybrid Work

This chapter presents an overview of remote and hybrid work. Remote work is the work people do when separated geographically from co-workers. However, remote work does not always mean working from your actual living space; it can mean any kind of work arrangement in which someone is in a different location than other members of their organization. The chapter begins by tracing the history of remote work. After years of slow but steady increases in instances of remote work, the COVID-19 pandemic brought a transformational change within a matter of weeks. With most of the developed world shutting down in-person gatherings in March 2020, remote work emerged as the only viable option for many. The chapter then considers what employers learned from the pandemic about remote work, before looking at the different types of remote work arrangements. These include working from home, hybrid work, and work from anywhere. The chapter also discusses the concepts of virtual work, virtual communication, and virtuality.