I was having dinner last week with a young relative of mine. She had just landed a big new job in the financial sector, and she was excited to tell me all about it. “The best thing about it is,” she said, “they only expect us to be in the office three days a week.” I was surprised to hear this. I thought most big financial companies had demanded that all employees head back to the office. “No,” she said, “three days a week in the office and two days a week at home is pretty standard.”

My young relative is in her mid-20s, which means that most of her adult working life has been distorted by COVID-19. Her first post-college job, a few years ago, was entirely Zoom-based. For her specific demographic cohort, young people who entered the workforce around 2020, a “pretty standard” work experience is a combination of Zoom calls, Slack messages, and the occasional day at the office.