With the pandemic still affecting much of the economy, remote work – utilized by about 16% of the U.S. workforce in 2019 – has become even more entrenched as a business norm. Some employers are making remote work available permanently while others are adopting a hybrid model. Gains in employee satisfaction, productivity Data collected by a team from the Mexico Autonomous Institute of Technology, Stanford University and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business through March 2021 found that nearly six out of 10 workers reported being more productive working from home than they expected to be, compared with 14% who said they got less done. As far back as May 2020, four in 10 Americans who worked from home at least one day a week said they would look for another job if their employers ordered a full-time return to the office. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics weighed in with a report that labor productivity, defined as the value of goods and services produced per hour of work, increased by 1.8% between the second quarter of 2020 and the second quarter of 2021, compared with an average annual increase of 1.4% from 2005 to 2019. (Some of those gains occurred in durable-goods industries such as car and appliance manufacturing that are largely unaffected by the working-from-home trend.) The shift toward working from home isn’t universally embraced. CEOs such as David Solomon of Goldman Sachs and Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan Chase have claimed that the practice is detrimental to creativity and culture. Partisans on either side can bolster their cases with a spectrum of arguments: better sleep; less time lost to commuting; reduced spontaneous communication with colleagues; enhanced employee retention; fewer opportunities for the personal interactions and mentorships that advance careers....

Few effects of the pandemic were felt as immediately or universally as food consumption. Barren supermarket shelves, higher prices and social distancing edicts forced many consumers to develop new patterns for obtaining and preparing food. According to results from a Consumer Reports survey published in January, about 80% of Americans made at least one change in the food they eat or the way they source or prepare it. People were snacking, stress eating and eating comfort foods more often, with 32% admitting they’ve gained weight (and 15% claiming to lose some). Another 22% said they were eating healthier than they were a year ago. “When people have less structure in their day and more access to the kitchen, it leads to more snacking and nibbling,” says Dr. Lisa Young, a nutrition and food studies expert at New York University. Not to mention more ordering in. Grubhub’s most popular deliveries in 2020 were heavily weighted toward comfort food, with chicken occupying the top three spots (spicy sandwich, burrito bowl and wings), followed by waffle fries, cold brew coffee and steak quesadilla. Home cooking heats up The novelty of takeout might have worn thin by September, when sales and marketing agency Acosta reported that 35% of the population had developed a newfound passion for cooking. As the pandemic moved into 2021, Americans continued to cook more, with 71% saying they will continue to do so after the crisis ends. That could signify that home cooks have become more creative and confident in the kitchen, along with enjoying the benefits of saving money and eating healthier. As the pandemic abates in some regions, consumers might choose to evaluate their diets and identify habits acquired during the pandemic that are worth keeping and which ones could be discarded....