I'm surprised to hear that this research found work-from-home workers to be less productive. When I used to work onsite, I saw that employees take their sweet time in everything and clock out on the dot because they'll have to travel back home. I guess it's also because of the distractions at home vs when they're onsite and everything they see is work-related.

My boss in my previous job feared that people who are working from home will just do the bare minimum and still get the same amount of salary. He then required all of the work-from-home employees to submit a daily report of their activities so that he'll be able to check if they did enough work. I think this is a massive failure because there are people who's quick in getting the job done so they'd do everything for 2-3 hours and just chill out for the rest.

My current boss treats us like freelancers in the sense that he lets us own projects. I do think that this method is more effective, as it makes the employees more productive, enhances leadership skill, and boosts morale. Output-based is definitely better.