The move by white-collar employers to create more balanced telecommuting policies is long overdue (“Remote Work Is the New Signing Bonus,” Exchange, June 26). I appreciate the desire to reduce time wasted commuting, but employers in industries such as software and biotechnology go fully remote at their peril if they emphasize real-estate savings or employee satisfaction over innovation and effectiveness. What happens to brainstorming when people aren’t in the same room? Or difficult cases of tech support, when you can’t wander down the hall to find the engineer?
Employees hired in the past 15 months have bypassed the acculturation and after-hours bonding essential to team cohesion. An innovative company is more than a group of automatons performing individual tasks. Apple and Adobe have it just right: a middle ground that reduces needless commuting while fostering the creativity and teamwork made possible by face-to-face interaction.
Joel West
Claremont, Calif.
