Remote Work Drives Record Productivity Gains in Q1

According to reporting from The New York Times, remote work—not AI alone—was a major driver of record U.S. labor productivity growth in the first quarter.

“Labor productivity,” the output produced by human labor, grew at its fastest rate in more than 20 years.

KKR sees remote work gains

Henry McVey, a senior executive at KKR, said he believes productivity gains began after the pandemic with the digitization of work, remote work, and machine learning—and that companies are only beginning to see the impact of AI.

RWN’s take

Remote work sits at the intersection of three trends. The first is global access to talent. Platforms such as Deel and Howdy make it easier to find specialized talent anywhere or build an engineering team on demand.

Digital exhaust trains AI agents

The second is artificial intelligence and machine learning, which can use the digital record created by meetings, chats, presence, and other work. AI agents can increasingly learn from remote companies with a strong digital footprint.

Gen Z founders

The third is a cultural shift among Gen Z founders. Many grew up online and are forming new businesses at record rates using the collaborative style they already know. Deel founder Alex Bouaziz has written that gaming taught a generation how to collaborate remotely long before today’s remote-work tools existed.

Platforms like Roam bring presence, visibility, and drop-in collaboration to remote companies.