What does the new work from home situation mean for higher education?

New patterns of remote work are appearing, as different nations rethink their COVID plans. What might they mean for higher education?

To set the stage, let me share some data from Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom:

This is early data for a rapidly developing situation, but let’s start from it to get our thoughts and imaginations going. What happens to a society where about one third of its working hours are done remotely?

Since my focus is higher education’s future, let’s zero in on that point. What are the impacts on colleges and universities?

Some sub-questions:

1. How much academic work will we conduct remotely during the 2022–2023 academic year? Which units, which departments will be more work-from-home-oriented than others?
2. If the workforce outside of the academia experiences this large uptick in remote work, will that influence students to desire more online education?
3. If this relatively high level of work from home persists, at least in the medium term, how should colleges and universities change how we prepare students for the workforce?