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Amanda Pallais
Robert C. Waggoner Professor of Economics

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 3. The Power of Proximity to Coworkers: Training for Tomorrow or
    Productivity Today?

The Power of Proximity to Coworkers: Training for Tomorrow or
Productivity Today?

Publication information:

Emanuel N, Harrington E, Pallais A. The Power of Proximity to
Coworkers: Training for Tomorrow or Productivity Today? 2023.

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Abstract

Amidst the rise of remote work, we ask: what are the effects of
proximity to coworkers? We find being near coworkers has tradeoffs:
proximity increases long-run human capital development at the expense
of short-term output. We study software engineers at a Fortune 500
firm, whose main campus has two buildings several blocks apart. When
offices were open, engineers working in the same building as all
their teammates received 22 percent more online feedback than
engineers with distant teammates. After offices closed for COVID-19,
this advantage largely disappears. Yet sitting together reduces
engineers' programming output, particularly for senior engineers. The
tradeoffs from proximity are more acute for women, who both do more
mentoring and receive more mentorship when near their coworkers.
Proximity impacts career trajectories, dampening short-run pay raises
but boosting them in the long run. These results can help to explain
national trends: workers in their twenties who often need mentorship
and workers over forty who often provide mentorship are more likely
to return to the office. However, even if most mentors and mentees go
into the office, remote work may reduce interaction:  pre-COVID,
having just one distant teammate reduced feedback among co-located
workers.

Amidst the rise of remote work, we ask: what are the effects of
proximity to coworkers? We find being near coworkers has tradeoffs:
proximity increases long-run human capital development at the expense
of short-term output. We study software engineers at a Fortune 500
firm, whose main campus has two buildings several blocks apart. When
offices were open, engineers working in the same building as all
their teammates received 22 percent more online feedback than
engineers with distant teammates. After offices closed for COVID-19,
this advantage largely disappears. Yet sitting together reduces
engineers' programming output, particularly for senior engineers. The
tradeoffs from proximity are more acute for women, who both do more
mentoring and receive more mentorship when near their coworkers.
Proximity impacts career trajectories, dampening short-run pay raises
but boosting them in the long run. These results can help to explain
national trends: workers in their twenties who often need mentorship
and workers over forty who often provide mentorship are more likely
to return to the office. However, even if most mentors and mentees go
into the office, remote work may reduce interaction:  pre-COVID,
having just one distant teammate reduced feedback among co-located
workers.

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Full text

Revise and resubmit, Quarterly Journal of Economics

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Notes

Revise and resubmit, Quarterly Journal of Economics

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email apallais@fas.harvard.edu
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