Interview with Thorben Albrecht, Member, ILO Global Commission for the Future of Work

Thorben Albrecht is an expert on the future of work and digital transformation and has been a member of the International Labour Organization’s Global Commission on the Future of Work since 2017. He has been Permanent State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Germany and Federal Manager Social Democratic Party of Germany.

Here he discusses remote working trends and best approaches.

“ remote work is now being introduced in a time of crisis and in a very extreme form with no personal meetings possible whatsoever. This could well have the opposite effect after the crisis if companies do not adjust their “way of remote work” to a more intelligent, human and flexible style.”

What trends have been driving the move toward more working from home over the past 10 years?  

New and advanced technologies have made this trend possible, but the main drivers have been new flexibility-needs concerning time and place of both employers and employees. Other aspects like the reduction of the time and pollution of commuting or handling restructuring have been adding to this.     

What impact does remote working have on productivity?  

There is no general positive or negative effect on productivity. Productivity can be increased when remote work is applied in an intelligent way. It should not be substituting but complementing work with face-to-face-exchange. Distraction and stress should be reduced and the well-being of employees increased compared to in-office-work (but this is not always the case). Only then productivity-gains are possible.    

To what extent do you expect the way people are forced to work during the coronavirus pandemic to have long lasting effects?  

I hope that reservations against remote work are reduced where they still exist with employers and employees. And that investments into technology are done and still used after the situation is back to normal. But at the same time, remote work is now being introduced in a time of crisis and in a very extreme form with no personal meetings possible whatsoever. This could well have the opposite effect after the crisis if companies do not adjust their "way of remote work" to a more intelligent, human and flexible style.    

Is there an inbuilt inequality in a drive to work from home, as not everyone has a quiet, stress free home with sufficient broadband provision and space to work?  How does this weigh up against enabling a more diversified workforce through greater flexibility?  

The flexibility-needs of employers are not always in line with those of employees. And between employees the needs and possibilities are also very diverse. Thus only models of remote work that align the different needs through mechanisms of negotiations and compromise will be successful and increase diversity without increasing inequalities.    

Interview conducted by Amy Wevill.