As part of our post-event blog series following Running Remote 2025, held in Austin this April, we’re diving deeper into the sessions that sparked the most conversation. These companion pieces expand on our earlier interviews with speakers, offering both fresh insights and reflections from the event floor.
If you haven’t yet, catch our previous exclusive interview with Nick Bloom on the future of remote work
In case you missed the earlier pieces in this series, check out:
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Watch the Full Session Below
Nick Bloom, Stanford Professor and Co-Founder of WFH Research, shares the latest research and insights from the ongoing tug-of-war between remote and office-based work. Watch all 2025 Sessions in our complimentary library.
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“We’re not seeing any major shifts anymore. The big transition is over – the dust has settled.” Nick Bloom
Key Takeaways from Nick’s Session
🔹 Remote work has stabilized. According to multiple data sources – swipe card access, mobile phone location data, and WFH Research surveys – remote work days have plateaued at ~25% since 2023.
🔹 Hybrid is here to stay. Hybrid models have become the norm. Organizations see better retention and similar (if not better) performance outcomes compared to full in-office.
🔹 Fully remote is highly profitable for the right companies. There is no performance gap between hybrid and remote models – but it requires intentional systems and workflows.
🔹 The real benefit? Retention. Offering hybrid/remote reduced quit rates by 35%. This matters more than ever in tight labor markets.
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“What’s fascinating is that hybrid work isn’t a compromise – it’s often the best of both worlds.” Nick Bloom
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Nick’s Reflections (post-event)
We followed up with Nick after the event with some of the audience’s questions to go deeper on key takeaways. Here’s what he shared:
- Where do you see WFH trends heading by 2030 – is 25% the ceiling?
Nick Bloom: “By 2030 remote work will be perhaps 30% to 35% of days. Working from home has been clearly rising over the long-run. We have data back to 1965, and you can see it has been doubling about every 15 years. This is due to advancements in technology – first improvements from the telephone, then personal computers, the internet, cloud computing, and video calls. Hardware for audio and visual has also improved massively, as has the software. This improvement is ongoing, and indeed has been accelerated by the pandemic, resulting in a significantly large market. So by 2030 it’s an easy bet to make that remote work will be higher than in 2025, perhaps about 30% to 35% of days in the US compared to about 25% of days in 2025.” - What are the most common mistakes companies make when transitioning to hybrid work, and how can they avoid them?
Nick Bloom: “The first mistake is pushing an excessively in-person plan. There is an old Roman saying that ‘a good law is an easy-to-enforce law’. Essentially, a plan for 5 days in the office is difficult to enforce since neither managers nor employees support it. Hence, teams skip days in the office, evading mandates and unravelling the plan. Firms that instead shoot for something reasonable, such as 3 days a week in the office from Tuesday to Thursday and 2 days at home on Monday and Friday, have far better compliance. As a result, the days in the office work better as everyone is in at the same time, generating a sense of energy and engagement.
The second mistake is pushing for fully distributed teams to have heavy in person presence. It may make sense for a team of 10 people in one office to be in person 3 or 4 days a week if there are several juniors who can benefit from in-person mentoring by seniors. But in a team of 10 people spread across 7 offices, it makes little sense to be in the office 4 days a week. Indeed, folks are often more willing to take early 7am calls or late 7pm calls if they are working from home, making spanning time-zones much easier in remote teams.“ - How can leaders balance autonomy with oversight in hybrid teams without creating a sense of surveillance?
Nick Bloom: “The key is to focus on employee performance. Managers should not be desk-watching employees at home or in the office. Management by desk-watching is a 3/10 management practice. It works, but it’s not great, perhaps like a 1990s computer. In contract management, focusing on outcomes and outputs works in the office or for hybrid or remote employees. If I’m at home and my boss has set me objectives of, say, 10 new clients and a pitch deck, I’ll work on that. My boss does not need to see me at my desk; they just need to evaluate my output. That gives me more flexibility and lets my boss focus on more important tasks than monitoring me. So, put simply, bosses should focus on outputs, not inputs. They should monitor what employees achieve, not the hours they sit at their desk.”
“Remote doesn’t harm productivity – bad management does.” -Nick Bloom.
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🔁 Join the Conversation
What did you think of Nick’s insights? Drop your thoughts in the comments or share this post with your team.
➡️ Running Remote 2025 continues the conversation. Visit the Running Remote Library to watch every session from the 2025 event—plus a treasure trove of talks from previous years. It’s all free, all on demand, and packed with inspiration from remote-first leaders.
