Articles

TASA ID: 22108

According to a recent survey conducted by job site Monster, more than one in four (26%) US workers would rather undergo a root canal procedure than work in their offices five days a week. Additionally, nearly two in five (38%) workers said they would quit a job that required just one day onsite. These staggering statistics reveal a clear shift in workers' attitudes towards the traditional office environment, and companies that fail to adapt to this change risk losing their most valuable asset: their employees.

As a highly experienced expert in the field of hybrid work, I talk with 5-10 leaders every week about how to make hybrid work serve their needs well. I ask them what their top concern is, and most say it’s hiring and retaining talented staff.

TASA ID: 22108

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many businesses to adapt to remote work, and the results have been surprising. A new study from the Becker Friedman Institute at the University of Chicago found that remote work saved about two hours per week per worker in 2021 and 2022. Workers allocated 40 percent of time savings to work and about 11 percent to caregiving activities.

That’s over 45 minutes more work per week! No wonder extensive data shows that workers are more productive when working remotely.

As a highly experienced expert in hybrid and remote work, I have consulted for many companies on this topic. In addition, my clients invariably express surprise over the clear data showing the improvement in productivity caused by remote work.

TASA ID: 22108

They say remote and hybrid work is bad for employee mental well-being and leads to a sense of social isolation, meaninglessness, and lack of work/life boundaries. We should just all go back to office-centric work - or so claim many traditionalist business leaders and gurus. For example, Malcolm Gladwell said that there is a “core psychological truth, which is we want you to have a feeling of belonging and to feel necessary… I know it’s a hassle to come into the office, but if you’re just sitting in your pajamas in your bedroom, is that the work life you want to live?”

TASA ID: 22108

Given the extensive headlines about Amazon, Disney, and Starbucks ordering employees back to the office, you might think that the back-to-office return is inevitable. Yet do such headlines represent the reality of a new wave, or are they just clickbait for anxious workers who want to avoid the threat of a forced office return?

TASA ID: 22108

Angry and dismayed Amazon employees are pushing back against the recently-announced return to office policy by the Amazon leadership. Amazon's policy joins other high-profile companies such as Disney, Starbucks, Tesla, Google, and others that are forcing employees back to the office.

Some are claiming they need to do so for the sake of productivity. For example, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, claimed that those working remotely only "pretend to work" and are "phoning it in." Others say you need to be in the office to innovate: Disney's CEO Bob Iger demanded the return to the office because "nothing can replace the ability to connect, observe, and create with peers that comes from being physically together."