Remote Work - To Be (productive) or Not to Be (productive) – That is the Question

Ever wonder what the true impact of the abrupt adoption of remote work had on productivity?


What’s the real impact of remote work on productivity?


Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of U.S. workers operated under traditional office-based arrangements. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), in 2019, only 24% of U.S. workers had access to flexible work arrangements such as telecommuting, and just 7% of employees worked remotely on a full-time basis. 


By May of 2020, 42% of the U.S. workforce was working from home full-time. This was a massive shift from pre-pandemic numbers, highlighting the widespread adoption of remote work in a short period of time.


But now in 2024, we are seeing industry leading companies mandate a return to the office for its employees. Amazon, one of the largest employers in the U.S., has recently made headlines with its decision to require a return to the office for many of its corporate employees. The company, which had embraced remote work during the peak of the pandemic, has now adopted a more structured approach to in-office work.


This policy shift aligns with a broader trend among tech companies such as Google, Apple, and Meta where there is a growing recognition of the benefits of in-person work. Amazon has stated that its return-to-office policy is designed to "reinforce its innovation culture," which relies heavily on team interaction, cross-department collaboration, and rapid decision-making. Additionally, the company has indicated that employees who do not comply with the new policy may face the risk of being moved to other roles or being let go, emphasizing the company's commitment to this change.


So what does Amazon know that other organizations don’t about having employees in the office? Are they more productive?


An interesting study published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics sheds some insight into this question and we’ve summarized the findings in our “Readers Digest” recap.


A Surge in Remote Work Across Industries


Remote work grew rapidly across industries between 2019 and 2021, with substantial gains in sectors like professional services, finance, and information technology. According to data from the American Community Survey (ACS), industries such as professional, scientific, and technical services saw a dramatic increase in remote work, with over 39% of their workforce working from home in 2021, compared to less than 17% in 2019.


The surge in remote work was not limited to a few sectors. By 2021, over 40% of workers in multiple industries, including insurance, securities, and publishing, transitioned to working from home. The ACS data helps to map out these shifts, demonstrating that more industries were able to embrace remote work during the pandemic than ever before, driven by necessity and technological advancements.


Productivity: A Complex Relationship


The link between remote work and productivity remains nuanced, with findings varying depending on the method of analysis. Randomized experiments within companies show a slight increase in individual productivity due to remote work, evidenced by higher output in metrics such as emails sent or video calls made. Some studies also found that remote work improved job satisfaction, which could reduce turnover rates and save businesses the costs associated with hiring and training new employees.


However, at an aggregate level, studies examining economic performance across industries show mixed results. Research by Fernald et al. (2024) found little correlation between labor productivity and the ability to work remotely, suggesting that remote work did not drastically impact overall productivity across sectors. Yet, when examining the period from 2019 to 2022, a positive relationship emerged between the rise in remote work and Total Factor Productivity (TFP), which measures the efficiency of all inputs used in production. This correlation indicates that, while remote work did not cause a significant productivity spike, it may have had a stabilizing effect on industry-level productivity during the pandemic.


The Economic Implications of Remote Work


The transition to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic brought about mixed results in terms of productivity. While productivity growth was not uniform across all industries, data suggests that the rise in remote work had a generally positive effect on productivity growth from 2019 to 2022. Particularly, remote work led to significant savings in office-related costs and more efficient business operations. Despite these gains, workers did not see a corresponding increase in compensation, though they did benefit from improved work-life balance.


To Be (productive) or Not to Be (productive) – That is the Question


Overall, while the productivity gains from remote work were evident, they were more apparent at the industry level, with businesses benefiting from lower non-labor input costs. Whether remote work remains a long-term productivity driver will depend on future management practices, technological advancements, and worker preferences, but the pandemic has certainly set the stage for more flexible work arrangements in the years to come.

New Opportunity: Vice President of Operations

By Effie Zimmerman • December 11, 2025
Vice President of Operations ABOUT THE COMPANY Founded in 1993 in Portland, Oregon, Pavement Maintenance Inc. (PMI) specializes in sealcoating, striping, pavement and concrete repair, and parking lot sweeping for leading property managers and facility owners throughout the region with its dedicated team of 100 employees. The company serves a diverse customer base across commercial, industrial, multifamily, retail, and healthcare properties, focused on recurring maintenance work and long-term customer relationships. With PMI’s acquisition of Vancouver Paving, its service offering expanded into all phases of paving, from minor repairs to new construction. In 2025, PMI joined Trinity Hunt Partners’ newly created paving services platform company Sage Surface Partners (“Sage”). Sage will be represented in the market with other best-in-class commercial paving services companies that share a strong commitment to quality, service, and their people. THE ROLE Reporting directly to the President of PMI, the Vice President (VP) of Operations will be a key member of the executive team, responsible for transforming and scaling the operational foundation of a small but growing pavement maintenance and repair company. This leader will combine strategic thinking with a hands-on, roll-up-your-sleeves approach to build systems, processes, and teams capable of supporting organizational growth. The VP of Operations will oversee field operations, project management, quality, safety, fleet/equipment, scheduling/dispatch, and customer satisfaction, driving operational discipline while preserving the agile, service-driven culture that has led to their market-leading position. RESPONSIBILITIES Operational Leadership & Scaling Build and mature operational infrastructure, including SOPs, workflows, and performance metrics, to support PMI growth targets. Provide day-to-day leadership of field and operations teams, ensuring high-quality and efficient delivery of our suite of pavement maintenance and paving services. Develop and implement initiatives such as business process modernization, cost optimization, and expansion readiness. People Leadership & Culture Development Model strong leadership behaviors, including clear communication, follow-through, integrity, and a commitment to developing others. Mentor and coach field leadership teams, helping them grow in decision-making, planning, and leadership capability. Promote a culture of ownership and engagement by empowering team members, recognizing strong performance, and fostering constructive problem-solving. Lead through change, helping employees understand the ‘why’ behind new systems, expectations, and processes that will support company growth. Project & Production Management Oversee scheduling, dispatching, crew planning, and resource allocation to ensure projects are delivered on time, within budget, and to quality standards. Introduce or refine project management tools and job costing practices to improve visibility and accuracy of operational performance. Identify bottlenecks and implement solutions that drive productivity and increase capacity. Safety, Compliance & Risk Management Strengthen the company’s safety culture through training, compliance monitoring, and the consistent application of best practices. Ensure adherence to OSHA, DOT, and other regulatory requirements across field operations. Establish scalable safety programs that can support future growth into additional markets. Fleet, Equipment & Materials Oversight Oversee procurement, maintenance, utilization, and lifecycle management of heavy equipment and materials. Streamline maintenance processes, ensure proper tracking systems are in place, and reduce downtime. Evaluate opportunities for capital investment to support efficiency and capacity improvements. Quality Assurance & Customer Experience Foster a customer-first mindset, ensuring work quality, communication, and responsiveness meet or exceed expectations. Handle escalated issues professionally, preserving customer relationships during a period of company transition and growth. Collaborate closely with sales and estimating teams to align operational delivery with customer commitments. Financial Stewardship & Strategic Execution Develop and manage operational budgets, forecasting production needs, staffing levels, equipment costs, and overtime management. Partner with the President and organizational leaders on reporting, KPI tracking, and operational improvement priorities. Provide insights and recommendations to leadership on growth opportunities, market expansion, and operational investments. QUALIFICATIONS Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management, Engineering, Business Administration, or related field preferred; equivalent experience considered. 7–10+ years of progressive leadership experience in construction or related service industries, or pavement maintenance operations. Experience working in a small-business environment, preferably during a phase of ownership transition or private-equity involvement. Strong background in building processes, implementing systems, and driving organizational maturity. Excellent leadership and communication skills, with the ability to motivate teams through change and rapid growth. Demonstrated expertise in scheduling, job costing, production management, and safety. Ability to be both strategic and hands-on—comfortable working in the field, in the office, and with investors. Interested in Learning More? 180one has been retained by PMI to manage this search. If interested in learning more about the opportunity, please contact Nicole Brady at 180one at 503.699.0184 / nicole@180one.com .
OBRC

New Opportunity: Chief Financial Officer

By Effie Zimmerman • November 11, 2025
Chief Financial Officer ABOUT THE COMPANY Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative (OBRC) is the industry steward of Oregon’s nationally recognized beverage container redemption program. We help keep Oregon beautiful by providing outstanding services to our partner distributors, retailers and to the public for the recovery, reuse, and recycling of beverage containers. OBRC serves as a not-for-profit statewide operator with full vertical integration, making the co-op a major employer and providing more than 500 clean economy jobs in Oregon. Through our statewide fleet operations, OBRC collects more than 2 billion containers annually for recycling across a network of 2,000+ retail stores, 27 redemption centers, 90+ bag drop locations, and transports them for counting, sorting, and processing across 6 statewide processing centers, preparing these containers for Grade-A domestic recycling. At a dime per container, the value of refunds adds up fast. This requires speed and accurate reimbursements for retailers and payments directly to consumers and nonprofits. OBRC manages the flow of deposits and container refunds, paying out over $200 million annually to Oregon consumers. No similar system in America has consumers and the beverage industry is working so closely together to achieve outstanding results, and Oregon’s Bottle Bill is popular with consumers. OBRC is proud to serve as the industry steward of Oregon’s Bottle Bill, ensuring Oregon’s beverage container redemption program continues to produce positive results for Oregonians and inspiring positive change beyond our borders as a model program across the globe. THE ROLE As a strategic business partner to the CEO, this financial leader collaborates with the executive team to provide finance and accounting support for companywide operational departments and other partnerships. Drive business performance by influencing and executing strategies that further OBRC’s mission statement. RESPONSIBILITIES Advise in an active and supportive manner to the CEO, Board of Directors, and other executive team members on strategic plans with a focus on controlling costs and meeting budget goals. Lead the Finance and Accounting team to provide and interpret financial information to improve performance, efficiency, and decision-making across all departments. Influence executive decisions with data and respectful challenges to the status quo. Ensure sound financial management and control practices, including internal financial reporting, internal controls, audit and tax compliance, accounting, strategic and operational financial planning and analysis, budget preparation and reporting, management reporting, as well as insurance and risk management. Direct and manage the treasury function, including planning and forecasting cash flows and maintaining the primary relationship with banking partners. Partner with Human Resources in overseeing and managing employee retirement benefit plans and other benefit plans, including health insurance, life, and disability insurance. Manage OBRC patron relationships and lead the team members in monitoring and signing up new cooperative patrons. Successfully monitor the monthly reporting process by patrons to ensure compliance with service agreements. Consult and lead business departments during the annual budgeting process and any required forecasting to support capital and business development projects. Provide timely and accurate analyses of budgets, financial reports and financial trends. Ensure data systems can meet the company’s business objectives. Compare actual performance against forecast and recommend corrective action when actual performance is significantly unexpected. Provide monthly internal reports and periodic reforecasting of the current year’s financial and business plans. Oversee OBRC’s Loss Prevention Department, which emphasizes asset protection on a companywide basis and security at specified BottleDrop locations. Review legal documents and manage legal challenges in collaboration with the CEO/COO and legal counsel. Supervise and manage a team of employees, including recruitment and hiring of staff, performance management, discipline, and terminations. Other duties as determined by business needs. EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE A bachelor’s degree in finance, business, or other related fields is required. An MBA or an advanced degree is preferred. 15+ years of progressively responsible financial leadership experience required, with a preference for prior public accounting experience. At least 3 of those years should have been in a CFO or financial executive leadership role. CPA is preferred. REQUIREMENTS – KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES Strong verbal and written communication skills; ability to break down complex analysis and communicate effectively to all levels of both internal and external partners. Demonstrated leadership ability, confidence, executive presence, and ability to motivate accounting and other employees. Self-starter who works with a sense of urgency. Strong organization skills with exceptional attention to detail, with a high level of accuracy. Proficiency and professional knowledge of MS Word, MS Excel, and Outlook. Adaptability, and the ability to approach changes and problems with curiosity, humor with the ability to change course. Technical financial knowledge, including cash-flow management, reporting, and analysis. Strong interpersonal skills to listen to understand different perspectives and motivations. Ability to assess a business problem quickly and identify solutions that address the root cause. Ability to delegate tasks and support the team by being hands-on during periods of high need. Ability to effectively manage people and performance to deliver improved team performance. Experience with coaching and mentoring direct reports and assisting with conflict resolution. Interested in Learning More? 180one has been retained by OBRC to manage this search. If interested in learning more about the opportunity, please contact Tom Haley / 503-334-1350 /  tom@180one.com  .

New Opportunity: Senior Director of Investor Relations

By Effie Zimmerman • November 7, 2025
Senior Director of Investor Relations ABOUT THE COMPANY As a leader in the global active lifestyle apparel, footwear, accessories and equipment industry, Columbia Sportswear Company has assembled a portfolio of brands dedicated to connecting active people with their passions. In addition to the Columbia brand, Columbia Sportswear Company also owns the Mountain Hardwear, SOREL and prAna brands. Founded in 1938 as a small hat company in Portland, Oregon, Columbia Sportswear Company today has grown into an industry icon with $3 billion in annual sales. As a global company, its brands are now sold in approximately 90 countries. Based in Portland, Oregon, the company is dedicated to making no-nonsense apparel, footwear and accessories to keep consumers warm, dry, cool, and protected, no matter what. Defined by its innovative gear, Pacific Northwest heritage, irreverent spirit and family business ethos, Columbia’s products continue to gain worldwide recognition, enabling them to unlock the outdoors for everyone. THE ROLE The Senior Director - Investor Relations (“the Director”) is part of Columbia Sportswear Company’s (CSC) global finance organization and supports CSC’s senior leadership team optimally positioning the Company to create shareholder value. The primary goal of the Director is to educate and update current and prospective shareholders and investment analysts about our business strategies, trends, risks, financial results, financial outlook, and other relevant matters. Building and maintaining constructive relationships between CSC and the investment community is essential to success in this position. The Director works to successfully lead CSC’s investor relations and financial communications program supporting quarterly earnings releases and other shareholder and investor events including CSC’s annual shareholder meeting, non-deal roadshows, one-on-one meetings, investor conferences and other similar events. Additionally, the Director is responsible for analyzing and interpreting financial, operational, and other related performance metrics for the Company, its competitors, and other market players to prepare financial and other material press releases, presentations, talking points, Q&A documents and other key messages. This position is also responsible for the Company’s competitive intelligence program. This includes researching and analyzing business and financial shifts and trends impacting our customers, competitors, suppliers and other stakeholders in our industry and then communicating these insights to senior leaders and commercial business units. RESPONSIBILITIES Leads in the planning, preparation, drafting and distribution of investor relations related documents, including quarterly earnings releases, earnings release script, CFO commentary, Q&A documents, key messages and talking points. Builds and maintains relationships with sell side analyst community, and assists with communications between the Company and the investment community. Conducts investor targeting for investor conferences, non-deal roadshows, and other investor meetings. Maintains and updates investor relations calendar, including scheduling investor/analyst calls, earnings conference calls, investor conferences, non-deal roadshows and onsite meetings. Develops a thorough understanding of the Company by regularly engaging with business and financial leaders to understand the Company’s business strategies, initiatives, risks, regulatory environment, financial plans and other significant matters relevant to investors. Creates and updates investor relations presentations for use in communicating with the investment community as well as similar financial presentation materials for internal use to the Company’s worldwide employee base. Manages Investor Relations portion of the Company’s website, including the creating and updating of content. Support finance and legal with reporting obligations including quarterly and annual SEC filings, and other reporting commitments. Manage creation of the Annual Report to Shareholders and partner with legal on the creation of the Proxy Statement and execution of the Annual Shareholder meeting. Monitors competitor and market information obtained from analyst reports and media sources; compiles relevant information into summaries for distribution to CSC’s senior leadership team and other relevant stakeholders. EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE & SKILLS REQUIRED Undergraduate degree in Finance, Business, Accounting, Communications or related field, MBA, or CPA a plus. At least ten years of broad business experience in multiple disciplines such as investor relations, investment banking or sell-side or buy-side research. Expert level of knowledge related to investor relations and SEC disclosure regulations, accounting practices, international business, and financial markets. High degree of financial literacy with attention to detail and accuracy. Excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills, including presentation skills. High degree of organization and efficiency with demonstrated attention to detail. Demonstrated accountability and ability to meet deadlines. Ability to work both independently and collaboratively. Dynamic and disciplined thinker with intellectual horsepower. Highest ethical standards, integrity, authenticity, credibility, and character. Professional demeanor and ability to interact with persuasiveness and confidence. Impeccable judgement and maturity. JOB SCOPE Position is highly complex and frequently involves new and varied work situations. Performs duties under little supervision. Determines his/her own practices and procedures and contributes to the development of new ones (company-wide). Decisions are made within general company policy and legal guidelines. Mistakes/errors may result in the dissemination of incorrect information, which may impact investor relations. Ability to work under pressure and respond to intense questioning related to CSC’s financial position. Able to prioritize workload and manage multiple projects independently. Ability to problem solve, analyze/understand complex finance and accounting issues, and financial statement relationships. Able to read, retain and explain internal and external information on CSC’s business and the dynamics of markets and competitors. Communicate with investors and balance their need-to-know against company disclosure policies. Some travel is required. INTERPERSONAL CONTACTS Contacts are with others both inside and outside the organization, including significant engagement with the external investment community. Interactions usually involve information exchange of confidential and sensitive information. Interested in Learning More? 180one has been retained by Columbia Sportswear to manage this search. If interested in learning more about the opportunity, please contact Lisa Heffernan / 971.256.3076/ lisa@180one.com .
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