The Other Work Remote Workers Get Done

Carolyn Vigil has spent most of her career in Big Tech. She is also the primary caregiver for her 23-year-old autistic son, Jax. Managing these two roles has never been easy, and at various times over the years, Vigil has had to step back from her job for the sake of her kid. It is somewhat remarkable that when schools shut down during the pandemic and Vigil became not only her son’s carer but also his teacher, she didn’t quit her job. “That was definitely challenging,” she told me, but because she was working from home, “I was able to juggle it.” She’s continued working remotely ever since, largely because her son is no longer in school and, though he is semi-independent, he still needs help managing his daily tasks: taking his medications, managing his diet and exercise, and traveling to doctor appointments. So Vigil was distressed when, earlier this year, her company announced that it was calling workers back to the office.

Predicting the future of remote work is hard. On one hand, many American workers really like it and want to be working than they are for about a year now. In a tight labor market, many employers opted to embrace at least some remote work to help with recruitment and retention.