Zoomshock is a dynamic animated video created by Humanstudio highlighting research by Dr Jesse Matheson, Department of Economics, into the societal effects of remote working. How will working from home change our cities?
The pandemic has had many implications for the UK and other countries. However, the profound impact of the pandemic on how, and where, we work could have far-reaching implications for the economy. Specifically, the amount of work done from home has increased from below 6% in 2019 to more than 25% in the first half of 2022. This translates into thousands of workers not going into their city centre office and not purchasing coffee, food and retail at the local businesses that serve daily commuters. In this research project we study how working from home has, and will continue to, reshape our cities and our local economies.
This project received funding through the UKRI Economic and Social Research Council (grant number ES/V004913/1).
Links to related articles:
The Conversation “Five charts that reveal how remote working could change the UK”
VoxEU “The geography of working from home and the implications for the service industry”
Economic Observatory “Zoomshock: how is working from home affecting cities and suburbs?”
Links to academic work:
“Remote working and the new geography of local service spending“, (2022) G. De Fraja, J. Matheson, P. Mizen, J. Rockey, and S. Taneja. Centre for Economic Policy Research, Discussion Paper 17431.
“Covid reallocation of spending: The effect of remote working on the retail and hospitality sector“, (2021) G. De Fraja, J. Matheson, P. Mizen, J. Rockey, S. Taneja, and G. Thwaites. Sheffield Economics Research Paper Series, number 2021006. “Zoomshock: The geography and local labour market consequences of working from home”, (2021) G. De Fraja, J. Matheson and J. Rockey. Covid Economics: Vetted and Real-Time Papers. 64, 1-41.