How the "Zoom Ceiling" May Be Keeping You Down at Work

In this Backstage Pass segment, recorded on Feb. 4, industrial organizational psychologist Dr. Elora Voyles joins Motley Fool contributor Rachel Warren to discuss how remote work is impacting employees' success in the workplace. Although the benefits of remote work are numerous, Voyles explains that there are also some drawbacks that come with this shift. 

Elora Voyles: The Zoom ceiling is akin to the glass ceiling. For the Zoom ceiling, this refers to the idea that remote workers can be eyeing positions and hoping to get promoted. However, the nature of their remote work may be preventing them, it's an invisible barrier, it's preventing them from getting those higher-level positions and leadership positions. It's a hidden cost, and many people have jumped for the immediate benefits, the flexibility, the lack of commute as you've noted, but it's important for workers and employers to be aware of this.

There are other hidden costs too, which I think we'll dive into probably even deeper in a minute, but there's less social connection, which is a contributing factor to that Zoom ceiling. Not having those connections, not getting that mentoring that you might just get through happenstance can really impact someone's career progression. These are a couple of the contributing factors.

Now, I'll give an example. There could be an employee who's opting to work remotely because they want to better manage their home and family responsibilities, and they may make this choice and do work just as well or even better than what they have before. However, when it comes time for promotion, that manager may view this employee as less dedicated because they're making a choice to work remotely. Or they may not be able to recognize the efforts and the successes that this employee has had.