Remote, office or hybrid working? This book could help you decide

Wharton management professor Peter Cappelli is the author of the new book, The Future of the Office: Work from Home, Remote Work, and the Hard Choices We All Face. Cappelli, who has for decades studied the forces shaping and changing the workplace, says the choices employees and employers must make about the future of work could be among the most important they face.

Brett LoGiurato, senior editor at Wharton School Press, sat down with Cappelli to talk about his new book. They discussed work during the COVID-19 pandemic, the complications with return-to-office hybrid models, and how employees and employers can make the best choices about what to do.

A dynamic and eloquent speaker, Cappelli is a frequently published author who regularly contributes to major business publications, including HR Executive. In a March 2021 Wall Street Journal article, he addressed employees directly, suggesting they think long and hard before opting to go fully remote if given the choice. Broadcast news outlets are also quick to seek Cappelli’s opinion when HR-related news storiesare in the headlines.

In this enlightening video snippet, he points to the novel ways companies have handled staff shortages and excesses, and highlights lessons from the past that can inform today’s managers as they face similar pandemic-related challenges.

Named one of the 50 influencers in the field of aging, Cappelli has also studied and written extensively on managing a multigenerational workforce with differing values. He co-authored the book “Managing the Older Worker: How to Prepare for the New Organizational Order” (HBR Press, 2010), which provides key steps to recruiting and retaining older workers.

“As the population becomes progressively ‘greyer,’ devising a strategy for the older worker now will give companies a competitive advantage,” says Cappelli.

Through virtual and in-person advisory meetings, education programs and workshops, he is offering much-needed guidance to organizations trying to design an optimal workplace model in the face of ever-shifting conditions.