workers and their bosses

Not having to commute was the equivalent of a big bonus... (Danlin Zhang / The New York Times)

By 

Austan Goolsbee

The New York Times

Millions of Americans have gotten a taste of working from home during the pandemic, and, boy, have they liked it.

Almost two-thirds of U.S. workers in a McKinsey survey at the start of the year said they wanted to work from home at least three days a week when the pandemic was over.

But battles are coming. People tend to think the fights will be over whether employers will allow remote work in the future. But a more vexing struggle may be over whether employers take most or all of these newfound benefits for themselves — not by prohibiting remote work but by expecting more hours from employees once the labor market is not as favorable to workers as it is right now.