The federal government, the nation's largest employer, is urging a return to office for federal employees this fall. A government report found that in the first three months of 2023, building occupancy at 17 federal agency was 25% or less. Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Roxana Garcia Espejo of Sugar Land, Texas, says her mostly remote job with Microsoft completely changed her work-life balance. In April, she lost that job as part of mass layoffs but still connects with other enthusiasts in the Microsoft Speakers Hub, an online forum. Rose Falcon hide caption
The 777 Tower in downtown Los Angeles' financial district is one of two buildings that Brookfield, the city's largest office owner, defaulted on this year. Arezou Rezvani/NPR hide caption
Cobbler James Wallace Sears has spent decades fixing the shoes of lawyers, consultants and financial advisers who work in nearby corporate towers. With so many of them still working from home, he's not sure his business will survive. Arezou Rezvani/NPR hide caption
Carrie Kissell spent nearly three months on a sailboat after Airbnb told her she could live and work anywhere. "When the workday was over, I'd close my laptop and you know, go snorkeling," she says. Carrie Kissell hide caption
The amount of time people spend in meetings tripled in the pandemic, Microsoft found in one study. Now, companies are looking at ways to cut back. woojpn/Getty Images hide caption
Commuting offers some workers a period of respite between work and home, researchers found. massimo colombo/Getty Images hide caption
A new Gallup report finds employee engagement in need of a rebound, finding only 32% of U.S. workers to be engaged with their work. Malte Mueller/Getty Images/fStop hide caption
The time-tracking software TimeCamp is able to monitor what files are accessed, and for how long, and whether other non-work activities, such as streaming services, are used on a laptop. Elise Amendola/AP hide caption
Just before turning 55, Dean Hebert retired from his job at the University of Maryland after realizing he had plenty of savings to support himself in retirement. Andrea Hsu/NPR hide caption
The Remote Wars erhui1979/Getty Images hide caption
Nitin Budhiraja discovered during the pandemic that he loved working from home. He now works fully remotely. Nitin Budhiraja hide caption
People walk by a subway stop in midtown Manhattan in New York City on April 13. Some of the city's top CEOs say they are being told by their employees that they are afraid to return to work after a recent spate of high-profile attacks. Spencer Platt/Getty Images hide caption
Brandie Diamond describes herself as a "transgender truck driver/chef/Jill-of-all-trades." But her career in trucking began in the mid-1980s, and she hadn't come out as trans back then. Meg Vogel for NPR hide caption