As the clock strikes 9pm in Cairo, the city dims under a strict energy curfew. Thousands of miles away in Europe, energy chief Dan Jørgensen warns of a "very serious situation" with no end in sight. The immediate policy response from global governments feels eerily familiar: mandatory work-from-home days, rolling blackouts, and fuel rationing.

Once again, the remote work policy is being deployed as a stopgap. It's a crisis lever pulled when offices cost too much to light and commuters burn too much fuel. But this cyclical, emergency-driven approach exposes a profound failure of leadership. As the world grapples with yet another crisis — be it a pandemic or an energy shock — the question workers are asking is: Why are leaders still resisting remote work as a permanent, stable right?



