Months have passed and the “great resignation” continues. Some believed that workers would return to the office en masse once the financial compensation measures were lifted. But this is not the case. In the United States, for example, where this aid ended several months ago, there has been no rush for offices.
Several reasons can explain this situation. The health situation to begin with, because the fear of being contaminated by the Covid-19 virus is still present. But also the weariness of those who had a job without interest. As well as those who took their early retirement. But workers are not the only ones responsible. There are also employers. In particular those who wanted to force their employees to return to their offices. And it is this category that we will be interested in today.
We’ve heard it before, but it’s important to say it again: it won’t turn out like this. Employees with high-value talent and skills, like most professionals in the tech world, won’t easily return to traditional face-to-face work.
But after all, you don’t have to take my word for it. So let’s look at some numbers.
The gap is widening between managers and employees
Hackajob surveyed 2,000 UK tech professionals, both employed and employers, about telecommuting. It emerges from this survey that three quarters of respondents (72% to be precise) consider teleworking as an important criterion in their profession. And one in five people are looking for a new job that allows them to work from home.
Microsoft also carried out the survey, more recently still, revealing that British technicians were convinced by this question: more than half of the employees polled would consider resigning in the event of a forced return to the office.
And the United Kingdom is not the only country concerned. According to a survey by Future Forum Pulse, French employees in the IT sector have one thing in common with the Americans, the British, the Australians, the Germans and the Japanese: most of them want to work at least a part time from a distance. More specifically, 75% of respondents want to be able to choose their workplace, while 93% want to be able to choose when they work. The main reason given is “for a better work-life balance”.
The problem is, leaders are not on the same page. 44% of them say they want to work face-to-face every day. On the employee side, only 17% are interested. Three-quarters of employers would like to work from their offices three to five days a week, while this statement convinces only 34% of their employees. The gap is widening between managers and workers …
But above all, we must not forget one thing. That I see for the first time in my life. Today, it is the employees, not the employers, who decide.
Praise for teleworking by Zuckerberg
Telecommuting is however one of the simplest advantages to grant to your employees. Put aside your doubts that an employee who is not constantly monitored will not perform well. If you don’t believe me, remember what Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of a small business called Facebook said recently: “I’ve found that telecommuting has given me more time to think long-term, and helped me spend more time with my family, which made me happier and more productive at work ”.
But the boss of Facebook / Meta is not the only one to defend teleworking. This is also the case of Erik Brynjolfsson, director of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, and Georgios Petropoulos, postdoctoral researcher at MIT, who analyzed the increase in productivity at work in the United States in the first quarter of 2021. This increase of 5 , 4% – according to figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) – is partly due, according to the researchers, to the compression in less than a year of a decade of digital innovation in fields like telecommuting . Going forward, they believe that the biggest impact on productivity will come from the continued trend towards teleworking.
And the employees agree. The monthly “WFH research.com” university survey reveals that nearly six in ten workers believe they are more productive working from home. On average, respondents’ productivity is 7% higher when they work from home. In short, telecommuting is here to stay. And, according to those calculations, it will increase overall employee productivity by 5% in the United States, compared to pre-pandemic figures.
In other words, telecommuting works.
The hybrid compromise
However, that does not mean that the offices should be closed. If we believe the “Dice State of Remote Work” survey, teleworking is a specter. And, if some employees never want to cross the threshold of the office again, others are more divided, and dream of a flexibility allowing to reconcile telework and face-to-face during the week.
Indeed, according to figures from Dice, only one in five workers is determined never to come to the office again. 75% of them would be more interested in a hybrid way of working.
However, only 3% of those questioned would be ready to return to the traditional 9 am-5pm at the office every day of the week. Yes, only 3% agree to work again as in the 2010s. To go further, 7% of those polled even declared that they were ready to accept a 5% pay cut in order to have the possibility of work abroad.
Better reconcile private and professional life
Why is teleworking so convincing? It’s simple. It is beneficial for both the employees and the business. 53% of tech professionals cite increased productivity as one of the main benefits of telecommuting. 59% of them also point out that feeling more relaxed at work is a major advantage. As for their personal advantages, 80% of them consider that the savings made on commuting to work constitute the main advantage. And, like Mark Zuckerberg, 47% of respondents believe that teleworking allows them to better reconcile professional and private life. No, the point is not to stay on the couch and watch Squid Game on his working time, contrary to what some employers may think. The interest is rather to gain a few minutes a day to take care of the children’s meals, to go for a walk the dog or to go to the doctor for example, while being able to do its work.
According to Dice, the trend towards teleworking can only increase. I agree. And all those who have closely followed the transformations of the workplace in the XXIe century should agree. So you have two options: either go with the flow or fight it. In the latter case, you will likely end up losing your employees and then your business. Personally, my choice is made.
Source: ZDNet.com