Evaluation in work-from-home settings

Historically, U.S. firms have been resistant to remote and hybrid work arrangements. In 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, public policy at federal and state levels forced many non-essential workers into remote and hybrid arrangements (sometimes called “work-from-home” or WFH). In a very short period of time, the estimated number of U.S. workers in WFH arrangements jumped from approximately 5% to just under 40% - meaning that nearly one in every three Americans was working from home. This forced many firms to rapidly adjust to demands of a remote workforce. Recent research is revealing that success of these rapid shifts in WFH contexts have varied dramatically. It pertains to how employees and workers experience the process of performance evaluations in this new and uncertain world of work. Do they feel that the performance evaluation process is fair, equitable, and just? We are only beginning to find out.