MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Tavalicia Bell, a 26-year-old shipping dispatcher, was imagining a life working from home, her dog Cody by her side, she said as she hurried to finish her cheesesteak. But in this city, she explained as other workers filtered into Lennys Grill & Subs, most companies insist that employees show up in person.
“A lot of things you can do online,” said Bell, who returned to on-site work at a logistics center just three weeks into the COVID-19 pandemic. “But in Memphis — like, physically — you have to move boxes.”
The much-hyped remote-work revolution hasn’t landed in all places with equal force. The five states where employers offer the most flexible policies are liberal, wealthy and mostly coastal — California, Oregon, Colorado, Washington and Massachusetts — according to a survey of companies nationwide by Scoop Technologies, which specializes in flexible work software and data collection.
