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Work-wherever turns to work-whenever

The pandemic killed the 9-to-5 workday for many.

The big picture: So much of our society — from after-school child care programs to the most coveted time slots for television shows — is structured around working from 9 to 5. But our countrywide experiment in remote work has demonstrated that the hours we are logged on don't matter as long as the work gets done.


Why it matters: Dismantling the 9-to-5 workday adds a great deal of flexibility that could benefit working parents, caretakers, part-time students and more.

  • "It becomes increasingly clear in a remote setting, especially with colleagues traveling or relocating to varying time zones, that trying to retain a rigid work schedule makes little sense for many jobs," says Darren Murph, head of remote work at GitLab, the world's largest all-remote company.
  • "One of the key perks of remote work done well is flexibility. This includes flexibility of schedule."

And it's not just white-collar office jobs that are becoming more untethered.

  • With the rise of gig work, millions of Americans are making money based on how many rides they complete or groceries they deliver instead of how many hours they work.
  • Yes, but: That model adds to the precariousness of the gig economy and is a big driver behind the movement to give gig workers full-employee status.

The upside: Setting hours independently gives workers the ability to tailor each workday to their specific preferences, Murph says. Companies that embrace work-whenever should also learn to communicate with emails and documents rather than scheduled meetings to allow employees to truly plan their own days, he says.

  • Parents can take a break in the middle of the day to play with their kids and then catch up on work after dinner.
  • Trips to the gym can be scheduled for the afternoon, between meetings, instead of at the crack of dawn.
  • If you're more productive in the mornings, you can begin the day before your colleagues. And the same goes for night owls.

The downside: Despite its perks, work-whenever — which means there is no clear time to log on or log off — has the potential to fray work-life balance.

But, but, but: Most companies are still used to the 9-to-5 workday and communicating through meetings, which require employees to be logged on at roughly the same hours.

  • Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom has been surveying remote workers throughout the pandemic, and the majority say their pandemic hours and pre-pandemic hours still have about 80% overlap.
  • So there's a chance work-whenever is "mostly a short-run pandemic phenomenon," Bloom says.

The bottom line: Whether it's allowing employees to telecommute or letting them set their own hours, companies will ultimately decide how much workplace flexibility they'll bring into the post-pandemic world.

  • And employees will likely make decisions on where they want to work based on those company polices.

Go deeper:Work-from-home is turning into work-from-anywhere

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Schumer: Progressives, centrists "need each other" for two-track infrastructure gambit

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told Politico that the progressive and moderate wings of the Democratic Party "each need each other" in order to have any hopes of passing their spending priorities with the narrowest possible majority.

Why it matters: Democrats have cleared the first hurdle in Schumer's risky "two-track" legislative strategy to enact President Biden's agenda, but just a single objection could derail the entire gambit.

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