We believe the future of work is remote work. And, we’re not the only ones.

According to Stanford Graduate School of Business professor Nicholas Bloom, working from home is a future-looking technology. Bloom tested his hypothesis with a two-year study of a large travel agency in China, which has upwards of 20,000 employees.

Study:

Half of the workers worked from home and only came into the office once per week. The other half worked full-time in the office—no work from home days.

Highlights:

• Overall work performance improved 13% in the work-from-home group.

• People in the work-from-home group worked their entire shift, wasting less time.

• Concentration levels were higher in the work-from-home group, most likely due to fewer environmental distractions.

• Resignation rates dropped by 50% when employees were given the option to work from home.

• The company reported a profit increase of $2,000 annually for each employee working from home.

What does this experiment tell us? It’s time companies re-evaluate why they are still using traditional co-located models, complete with cushy central offices. Negative stereotypes of working from home do not accurately represent remote work as a whole. And, new management styles will be necessary for companies seeking to make the shift from co-located to hybrid or fully distributed models.

Have you come across other studies about remote work? We’d love to give them a read. Tweet us @yonder_io with the hashtag #remoteworkstudy!