As many office workers adapt to remote work, cities may undergo fundamental change if offices remain under-utilized. Who will benefit if working from home becomes the norm?

Employers argue they make considerable savings on real estate when workers shift from office to home work. However, these savings result from passing costs on to workers.

Unless employees are fully compensated, this could become a variant of parasitic (寄生的) capitalism, whereby corporate profits increasingly rely on extracting value from the public—and now personal—realm, rather than on generating new value.

Though employers are backed by a chorus of remote work advocates, others note the loneliness, reduced productivity and inefficiencies of extended remote work.

If working from home becomes permanent, employees will have to dedicate part of their private space to work. This requires purchasing desks, chairs and office equipment.

It also means having private space dedicated to work: the space must be heated, cleaned, maintained and paid for. That depends on many things, but for purposes of illustration, I have run some estimates for Montreal. The exercise is simple but important, since it brings these costs out of the realm of speculation into the realm of meaningful discussion.

Rough calculations show that the savings made by employers when their staff works from home are of similar value to the compensation workers should receive for setting up offices at home.

What does this mean for offices in cities? One of two things may happen: Employers pass these costs onto employees. This would be a form of expropriation (侵占), with employees absorbing production costs that have traditionally been paid by the employer. This represents a considerable transfer of value from employees to employers.

When employees are properly compensated, employers’ real estate savings will be modest. If savings are modest, then the many advantages of working in offices—such as lively atmosphere, rapidity of communication, team-building and acclimatization (适应环境) of new employees—will encourage employers to shelve the idea of remote work and, like Yahoo in 2013, encourage employees to work most of the time from corporate office space. 

1.1. What does the author say about working from home?

A It will become the norm sooner or later.

B It requires employees to adapt promptly.

C It benefits employers at the expense of employees.

D It will force cities to transform their infrastructure.

解析：选C。细节理解题。由题干中的the author和working from home定位到第一、二段。第二段指出，雇主们认为，当工作人员从办公室转到家中工作时，他们在房地产方面节省了大量资金。然而，这些节省下来的资金来自于将成本转嫁到工人身上。由此可见，远程工作这一模式虽然使雇主从中受益，但是却以牺牲雇员的利益为代价。故选C。

2.2. Why do some people oppose working from home?

A It discourages team spirit.

B It undermines traditional values.

C It invades employees’ privacy.

D It negatively impacts productivity.

解析：选D。推理判断题。由题干中的some people oppose working from home定位到第四段。定位段提到，尽管雇主得到了远程工作倡导者的异口同声的支持，但其他人注意到长期的远程工作所带来的孤独感、生产率降低和效率低下。由此可知，远程工作模式并不是受到大家的一致肯定，也有人持反对意见，而这些反对意见就包括：孤独感、生产率降低和效率低下，所以人们反对的原因是认为它会对生产力产生负面影响。故选D。

3.3. Why did the author run the estimates for Montreal?

A To provide convincing data for serious discussion.

B To illustrate the ongoing change in working patterns.

C To show the impact of remote working on productivity.

D To exemplify how remote working affects the economy.

解析：选A。细节理解题。由题干中的the author run the estimates for Montréal定位到第六段最后一句。定位句指出，这项工作很简单但很重要，因为它将这些成本从推测领域带到了有意义的讨论领域。由此可见，作者之所以对蒙特利尔进行估算，是为有意义的讨论提供真实的数据。故选A。

4.4. What can we conclude from the author’s calculations?

A There is no point in transferring office work to working from home.

B Employees can benefit as much from remote working as their employers.

C Employers’ gain from remote working should go to employees as compensation.

D Effective measures should be taken to motivate employees to set up offices at home.

解析：选C。细节理解题。由题干中的the author’s calculations定位到第七段。定位段提到，粗略计算表明，当员工在家工作时，雇主所节省的费用与员工在家设立办公室所应获得的补偿金额相当。由此可知，雇主所节省下来的费用应该给予雇员，补偿他们设立办公室的费用。故选C。

5.5. What is the author’s opinion on working from home?

A It should be avoided if possible.

B It is only a temporary measure.

C It can reduce companies’ real estate costs.

D It may affect employees’ corporate loyalty.

解析：选A。细节理解题。由题干中的author’s opinion on working from home定位到最后一段。定位段指出，如果雇员得到适当的补偿，雇主的房地产节省的资金就少了，那么在办公室工作的许多优势，例如活跃的气氛、快速的沟通、团队建设和新员工对环境的适应，都将鼓励雇主搁置远程工作的想法，就像2013年的雅虎一样，鼓励员工大部分时间在公司办公。由此可见，一旦雇主需要对远程工作的员工进行补偿，那么对于雇主而言，远程工作的弊端就大于利益，那么远程工作对于雇主和雇员双方都没有太大的好处。因此，作者支持在办公室工作。故选A。