The covid pandemic has changed the lives of many people. Seasoned business travellers are now finally staying in their home countries more often. Hours of commuting to office for many workers is a thing of the past.
For the past 2 years, workers are spending the extra time saved from commuting to have better meals by cooking, to spend more time with their loved ones or to exercise more. While the workers are enjoying their time away from office, the managers paint a different story. Most managers believe in-person work is best. Managers have reported decreased in productivity from their staff and having problems contacting staff during working hours. Clearly, the managers are frustrated.
Many surveys have shown that majority of the workers clearly favoured working from home. However as companies start to announce return-to-office plans, many workers will contemplate otherwise. However, just because companies wants everyone to head back to office doesn’t mean it’s workers will comply. For example when Goldman Sachs reopened its office in February 2022 and mandated 10,000 of its employees to return, only half showed up.
While managers can threaten consequences upon non returning employees, employees are riding on the great resignation wave and know that when there is a worker shortage, it is quite difficult for employers to fire them. So rather than to spend time and money to replace and retrain, some employers are letting it ride, for now.
Economies go through booms and recessions. While the workers have the upper hand during a recovery, they will find themselves on the top of the layoff list down the line when the time comes. It is a matter of when and not how.