Suppose that upstate New York has a snow blizzard. What types of workers produce the
same level of output on such a day? I recognize that guys who operate snow plows are more productive on those days! But, there more and more indoor workers who are just as productive at home than if they commute to the office for face to face interactions with peers. A benefit of deindustrializing is that fewer people must work face to face to produce something. An assembly line's output could not be produced at home son a snowy day.
Let's consider a couple of cases. A Buffalo 5th grade teacher will produce less output during the snow blizzard because school will be cancelled. An economist who teaches at SUNY Buffalo will have her classes cancelled but she will get more research done while working at home.What is the difference? The school teacher's output requires face to face meeting while the Professor of Economics (who is judged on research and teaching) is able to produce more "output" at home.
My big point is that with the increased ability of more and more workers to work and be productive at home that disruptions to our economy (yes I"m talking about adapting to climate change again) become less costly. While a dentist can't practice medicine at home, a software designer can. Skype calls can take place rather than face to face meetings.
With the Big Data revolution, more people can work and be monitored at home. Read this China experiment on this topic.
Weather storms create logistical issues but what are the productivity benefits of bearing the commuting and hassle costs of leaving your house? For which urban jobs, does face to face communication really matter? If fewer and fewer jobs fall into this category then we are better protected from severe weather shocks. This is another example of how labor markets evolve to help us to adapt.