Events at CERGE-EI

Cevat Giray Aksoy, Ph.D.

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London

Abstract: This paper evaluates whether structured in-person contact can improve performance and retention in a fully remote workplace. We study a nine-month randomised controlled trial in the customer-service operations of a multinational telecommunications firm. A sample of 248 fully remote employees was randomly assigned either to remain fully remote (control) or to attend the office one day per month (treatment), holding pay, schedules, tasks and performance evaluation constant. The monthly office-day policy increases productivity: calls per hour rise by about 4.4% on average, driven by roughly 5% shorter call durations, with no evidence of declines in service quality (customer ratings and audit scores) or changes in break time. The intervention also reduces attrition over the experimental horizon, with particularly strong retention effects among higher-performing workers. Evidence on mechanisms points to interaction and learning: treated employees report more frequent managerial feedback and stronger team communication, and randomised seating assignments show that brief co-location generates new peer links and productivity spillovers. Overall, predictable in-person contact can improve productivity and retention in fully remote service work.