As the world continues to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and find its way through the “New Normal,” it appears that working from home will now be a fixture in many people’s daily lives. Although this is often heralded as a beneficial development, Andy Loignon and coauthors discuss how this change also creates new avenues by which social class divisions can emerge. In this study, the researchers asked people to submit photos of their home working environments. These photos were then classified as “high” or “low” social class. Interestingly, the coders could quickly, accurately, and consistently judge another person’s social class with just these images of their offices. Furthermore, participants whose offices were classified as lower social class were less likely to feel that they could exert control over their environment and this lack of personal sense of control was then associated with lower levels of job performance. By putting all these findings together, what emerges is a cautionary tale of how home offices represent another subtle way in which class-divisions emerge in the workplace and how those with the fewest resources may experience unique challenges in today’s digital workplace.
