Remote work career risks for Gen Z are 'subtle, but material,' Harvard professor says: How to avoid the pitfalls

Olga Pankova | Moment | Getty Images While remote work offers young people flexibility , autonomy and a commute-free day , research shows that forgoing the office can have a detrimental impact on those at the start of their careers. Remote work is likely the main cause of a surge in youth unemployment, a report this month by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found. The National Bureau of Economic Research has also found, in a paper updated this month, that the rise in remote work makes it harder for younger workers to get feedback and advance. "Early in your career, a significant amount of learning comes via observation and osmosis: watching how colleagues run meetings, navigate conflict, build relationships and make important decisions," said Megan Hellerer, an executive coach and the author of " Directional Living ." "Those moments are challenging to replicate over Slack or Zoom." Fully remote early in the career is ideally avoided. Nicholas Bloom economics professor at Stanford Indeed, software engineers who sat near teammates got around 18% more feedback and saw their code quality improve, according to the NBER study, initially issued in 2023. Notably, the researchers found that the "gains are concentrated among less-tenured and younger employees." "Many of the benefits of remote work are self-evident," said Joseph Fuller, a professor of management practice at Harvard Business School. …