Out of Office

A game-changing book about the revolutionary potential of working from home, by two experts who work — and live — together.

Out of Office is a book for every office worker — from employees to managers — navigating the return to the office since the outbreak of COVID-19. The lockdowns of 2020–21 have shown us a new path forward, one that doesn’t involve hellish daily commutes and set schedules that no longer make sense. But how can we realise that future in a way that benefits workers and companies alike?

Using groundbreaking reporting and interviews with workers and managers around the world, Charlie Warzel and Anne Helen Petersen illuminate the key values that should be driving this conversation: trust, fairness, flexibility, inclusive workplaces, equity, and work–life balance. Above all, they argue that companies need to listen to their employees — and that this will promote, rather than impede, productivity and profitability. Out of Office is about so much more than Zoom meetings and hybrid schedules: it aims to reshape our entire relationship to the office.