Event Information

Changing Labor Dynamics: Should Employers Rethink What They’re Offering Workers?

Peter Cappelli, George W. Taylor Professor of Management & Director - Center for Human Resources, The Wharton School and Professor of Education, University of Pennsylvania

The COVID-19 pandemic forced an unprecedented experiment that reshaped white-collar work and turned remote work into a kind of "new normal." Now comes the hard part.

Many employees want to continue that "normal" and keep working remotely, and most at least want the ability to work occasionally from home. But for employers, the benefits of employees working from home or hybrid approaches are not so obvious. What should both groups do?

In a prescient new book, The Future of the Office: Work from Home, Remote Work, and the Hard Choices We All Face, Wharton professor Peter Cappelli lays out the facts in an effort to provide both employees and employers with a vision of their futures. Cappelli unveils the surprising tradeoffs both may have to accept to get what they want. You can watch a recent interview here.

Cappelli illustrates the challenges we face by drawing lessons from the pandemic and deciding what to do moving forward. Do we allow some workers to be permanently remote? Do we let others choose when to work from home? Do we get rid of their offices? What else has to change, depending on the approach we choose? His research reveals there is no consensus among business leaders. Even the most high-profile and forward-thinking companies are taking divergent approaches.

Join us for a lively dialogue with the author and Wharton professor, Peter Cappelli.

NOTE: This program will not be recorded as requested by the speaker.

Program Agenda:

Who attends: Breakfast programs are open to HRLF members and prospective members free of charge (approved guests are $50 - see our guest policy, no alternates or substitutions please)