When home becomes the office: Remote work and the intention to move

This paper looks at how working from home influences the intention to move in response to more recent concerns that this pattern of work, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, could have spatial impacts, and particularly affect the vitality of cities. A review of the literature, from the earliest discussions on ‘remote working’ through discussions on ‘teleworking’’ and more recently ‘working from home’ identifies many factors underlying the intention to move with residential satisfaction being an important determinant of moving. Using survey data from 677 respondents collected in Sydney, Australia, in July 2020, a structural equation model is estimated analysing the connections between the intention to move, working from home and residential satisfaction. The results show that hybrid workers, who combine working from home with working at the office, tend to have a higher intention to move, relative to entirely office-based workers, and this is primarily a result of lower levels of residential satisfaction and not so much of a direct effect of working from home frequency. With hybrid work becoming increasingly important, we need to carefully consider its spatial impacts. An in-depth analysis of both perceived and objective built environment characteristics and how these interact with residential satisfaction and the intention to move are included in the analysis. Standardised coefficients identify perceptions, particularly of safety and to a lesser extent accessibility, as the more important contributors in the intention to move. The paper conclusions identifies a policy of maintaining safe and accessible neighbourhoods as necessary to increase neighbourhood residential satisfaction.