March 2020. The month when the world went into the house and never came out again. In a matter of days, we converted the living room into an office, the hallway into a meeting room and the kitchen into a corporate cafeteria. What started as a patch ended up being the largest labor experiment in modern history. Remote work, which for years was almost a rarity, became a necessity. And in the midst of the chaos we discovered that, indeed, we could work without being physically together.
Five years later, the experiment already has results. The initial euphoria faded, productivity stabilized and companies began to distinguish between what was urgent and what was sustainable. In the European Union, the percentage of people working exclusively from home has fallen from 24% to 14% between 2022 and 2024, according to Eurofound. In the United Kingdom, in 2025, around 40% of workers combine office and remote: 14% completely from home and 26% in a hybrid model. In Spain, the figure is around 13%. In other words, teleworking is no longer the revolution that was going to change everything, but rather one more piece in the work machine. And honestly, that’s not a bad thing. It’s maturity.
Because, let’s be honest, not everyone can or wants to work remotely. Some sectors make it viable; others simply don’t. The factory, hospital, or classroom does not move to Teams or Google Meet. But they have been infected with something positive: the idea that flexibility and autonomy are not privileges, but rather levers of commitment and efficiency. The real lesson of remote is not to work from home, but to work smarter.
Technology has been a great facilitator, but not the protagonist. Collaborative tools, People Analytics systems or artificial intelligence have allowed us to measure better, anticipate earlier and automate more. But the key is still human. The more technology we incorporate, the more necessary judgment, empathy and clear communication become. AI can write a performance review, but it can’t replace an honest conversation between a leader and their team.
After several years leading fully distributed teams, I have learned that the success of remote work depends less on tools than on values. Constant and abundant communication prevents people from siloing or disappearing for days. Trust is the starting point, not the reward. Transparency and active listening create the bonds that sustain collaboration. And yes, something as simple as a cameras-on policy makes a difference: there’s no point talking to a black screen. On my team I have had people whom I have never met in person, but whom I trust completely. Remote and micromanagement They are declared enemies. You have to believe in people and the result, not in constant supervision.
The challenge, in reality, has been cultural. Leading from a distance forces you to communicate better, trust more and control less. It is the end of tacky presenteeism and the birth of a culture of pure performance, where being connected is not the same as being present and where trust replaces control. In these years we have discovered that trust is not improvised: it is built with coherence and transparency. And we have also learned that cultures that work remotely are not declared, they are demonstrated.
The sense of belonging, for its part, has also changed direction. When there are no longer shared hallways or cafes, the connection with the company has to come from somewhere else: from the purpose. The organizations that have been able to maintain commitment are those that create intentional communities, where people know why they are there and what value they bring. Technology amplifies, but does not invent, culture. If the foundation is solid, tools help. If it isn’t, digital exposure only makes it clearer.
Today the future of work is no longer measured in kilometers, but in coherence. It will not be remote or in-person, it will be flexible, humane and well managed. The companies that prosper will be the ones that find the balance between efficiency and connection, between autonomy and belonging. And that, probably, is the new role of the Human Resources area: to be the meeting point between technology and empathy.
After five years working in distributed environments, If there is one thing that is clear to me, it is that being remote does not change the nature of leadership: it exposes it. Makes visible what works and exposes what doesn’t. Remote work is no longer an experiment. Now it’s a mirror. And, like all mirrors, it returns who we really are: leadership, culture and purpose. Or the lack thereof.
*** Mariano Alonso González, es CHRO a WealthKernel and member of the Spanish Association of Human Resources Directors (AEDRH).