When large numbers of employees began working from home, many managers expected productivity to fall. Studies carried out since then suggest the opposite for tasks people complete alone: workers who avoid a daily commute tend to put in more focused hours. The picture changes for work that depends on discussion. Teams report that new ideas emerge less often, and that junior staff, who once learned by overhearing colleagues, take longer to develop. Remote work, in other words, suits some kinds of work far better than others.