IELTS Writing Task 2 — Remote Work: a Band 9 sample answer

Few workplace shifts have spread as quickly as remote working. What was once a rare perk is now an ordinary arrangement for millions, and opinion divides over whether it liberates workers or isolates them. On balance, I believe the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, though the losses deserve to be taken seriously.

The benefits are substantial and easily measured. Eliminating the commute returns hours each week to the worker — time that flows into sleep, family or exercise, all of which feed back into better work. Employers gain too: companies that hire remotely can recruit from a national or global pool rather than whoever lives near the office, and many report that output holds steady or even rises. There is also a quieter environmental dividend, as fewer cars idling in rush-hour traffic means measurably cleaner city air.

The disadvantages, however, are real. Human beings are social creatures, and the casual collaboration of an office — the question asked over a desk, the idea sparked at lunch — does not survive translation to scheduled video calls. Junior staff suffer most, since they learn by watching experienced colleagues rather than by reading documents. Remote work can also blur the boundary between job and home until the working day has no clear end.

In conclusion, remote working trades the structure of the office for autonomy over one's time, and for most workers that trade is worth making. The sensible future is probably hybrid: enough days together to keep collaboration alive, and enough apart to keep the commute dead.