Pat Russo is the former CEO of Alcatel-Lucent. She was honored recently by the New Jersey Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors.
She talked about how remote work could be a big issue for business — and New Jersey — moving forward from the pandemic.
“New Jersey has many assets. The key is to create incentives for businesses to want to base themselves there, and for people to want to live there. Without that, New Jersey risks losing people to more attractive states. … (W)hat COVID did is bring an appreciation of what type of impact something like a global pandemic has not only on companies, but on their employees. That is huge. Employees want more flexible work arrangements. No question about it. And there is now evidence — that is irrefutable — that companies can function without having to have everybody in the office. … If you’re a mother of two and you were commuting an hour and a half each way, it’s pretty easy to say, ‘I’d like to have a situation where I commute one day a week.’ ”
