Maggie Johnson | June 6, 2022
There’s a big push by several employers to return their employees to the workplace—full time!
It was recently reported on CNN Business (https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/01/tech/elon-musk-tesla-ends-work-from-home/index.html) that Elon Musk told Tesla office workers to return to work in person or leave the company. According to CBS News (https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/new-york-city-employees-no-hybrid-work-schedules/) New York City Mayor Adams ordered the City’s workers to return to work in-person, no hybrid schedules allowed. These two leaders are not alone, there are other companies making the same demands, but is attempting to go backward to the way things were—pre-COVID-19—the right thing to do for the future of business and for employees’ well-being?
The workplace and ways of working have always evolved over time. The introduction of technology in the workplace had a significant impact on how we performed work, giving a giant boost to productivity and efficiency. And now, virtual meeting technology such as Zoom and MS Teams has enabled successful continuation of workers to interact with each other, their supervisors, and their clients, and engage in training and attend conferences—all while working remotely. No company has reported any significant loss in productivity, but it seems that workers’ work-life balance has improved.
The workplace and ways of working have always evolved over time. The introduction of technology in the workplace had a significant impact on how we performed work, giving a giant boost to productivity and efficiency. And now, virtual meeting technology such as Zoom and MS Teams has enabled successful continuation of workers to interact with each other, their supervisors, and their clients, and engage in training and attend conferences—all while working remotely. No company has reported any significant loss in productivity, but it seems that workers’ work-life balance has improved.
According to the McLean & Company 2022 HR Trends Report:
“The emergency work-from-home measures of 2020 and 2021 began to challenge skepticism around the feasibility of remote work. Over the past year, organizations have embraced and leveraged it to their benefit.”
The McLean 2022 HR Trends Report also shows that organizations with jobs that can be performed remotely are 3 times more likely to report a positive impact on attraction, and 2.7 times more likely to report a positive impact on retention. Conversely, organizations with jobs that cannot be performed remotely are 4.2 times more likely to report a negative effect on attraction and 2.8 times more likely to report a negative effect on retention.
It will require some out-of-the-box thinking to attract and retain employees to in-person jobs, but threatening employees with job loss would not seem the best method for employee retention. However, there are workers who willingly signed up for in-person jobs, such as healthcare workers. Our dedicated healthcare providers are likely to continue in their “calling.” There are other industry workers too that will continue to have the same commitment to in-person work.
But those jobs that can be effectively performed at home, with no negative effect on productivity, why the drive to return those to the office? Let’s consider some of the positive aspects for those who work remotely:
- No commute time—permitting more time to be either on the job or simply less time stuck in traffic or crowding on to public transportation
- Less expense – No daily restaurant lunch, work attire cost is reduced, dog-walkers and after-school childcare become unnecessary, reduced cost for car maintenance, gas, train and bus tickets
- Less stress – Simply by being in one’s own home environment helps to increase work/life balance and reduce stress related to the workplace
- Live where you work – Allows workers to live where they want to, possibly reducing housing cost, instead of within or close to the city
The positives for employers include:
- Attract candidates from any location
- Happier workers have been proven to be more productive
- Reduce cost for office real estate—large offices no longer required
Now, the negatives for employees:
- Isolation – not getting out to interact and build camaraderie with one’s fellow workers in-person, missing out on water-cooler talk, becoming a homebody
- Effect on the City – Less trade for restaurants and shops, ridership on the subway and bus decline, city “busy-ness” suffers
And, the negatives for employers:
- Less in-person collaboration
- Limits one-to-one conversations with employees
So, what’s your vote?
- Remote work (either full time or hybrid) is the latest evolution in the work world—it is the new normal. We need to just accept and embrace it!
- OR
- There’s no longer a need to work from home—let’s all get back to the workplace, and that is what’s normal!
