Around here…we are seeing the opposite. New workers are expected to be in the office more initially…easier for the seasoned workers to mentor. New workers can then move into more remote IF being in the office isn’t needed.
I think that it will be a mix, and might largely depend upon the job.
Some jobs you have to be there. If you are seeing patients (whether human or not), or if you are growing human cells in a lab, or plugging together computer parts in the lab, or …, you are likely to need to come into work.
If you have weekly meetings that include people in California, Massachusetts, and Bangalore, and likely a few other places, you are most likely going to have these meetings over the Internet. You might or might not get together in person every few months. ;
I know two people who do either see patients or grow cells in a lab, but who work one day a week from home. They get some of their paperwork done from home, take some phone calls from home, and go into work for the other parts of the job.
There is some advantage to seeing people in person. The interactions that you can get over the Internet are very useful. However, they are still somewhat limited. One issue is that you miss the “just drop by and chat” that can be valuable.
Not necessarily. But they are industries that do require training and time with current experienced employees to learn the ropes.
E.g. my husband’s engineering firm hired maybe 2-4 new college grads a year. There is so much on the job training required, and client expectations that they will see in person who they are working with…that in person work is required.
The issue I have seen is trying to get the senior people back to the office. The 20-somethings live downtown in studio apartments and are willing to go in a few times. The 50-something managers live in nice suburbs with plenty of home office space and are not eager to commute.
I agree. We are seeing this pattern across all our offices globally - US, UK, Germany, India, Japan, Australia, etc. The younger employees want to come in, hang out with colleagues, and go out to socialize after hours. The more established employees prefer to work from home as they have family obligations, longer commutes, etc. But our firm does best when both sets of employees come in to the office at least a couple of times a week and interact with each other.
I think hybrid for most jobs is here to stay. It changes dynamic of jobs for sure. WFH for your own business and WFH for corporate has different productivity but in some industries (mostly tech) it will be impossible to get workers back into the office after they tried convenience of remote work. My DD graduated during Covid and always was remote. She hated it at first because of luck of in person training, team building, slower job progression, etc but loves the convenience, flexibility, was able to held second part time job at the same time. My DS and his wife just had a baby. They’re so many benefits for WFH when you are new parents and don’t have to think about childcare. My DH job turned into hybrid with employees requiring 60% in the office.
Where my husband worked…it was a requirement of the job. Period. And yes…folks who didn’t comply risked losing their jobs…and it didn’t matter how “senior” an employee you were.
My H was working mostly from home before Covid (large financial services company), now they want folks back in an office (he can work at any of the offices (the closest one just sold space in half of their building because many went hybrid). He’s also back to traveling a few times a month. My son was 100% remote since Covid until recently, now he need ps to be in the office 2 - 3 times a week (more than an hour away, when his lease ended he moved back home to save $, and now lives 5 minutes from us). My daughter (cpa) can work remotely still, although dies have client visits. Her office is 45 minutes from us, and 45 minutes from her apartment (an hour from us). I think more will go back to in person, but with more flexibility. My husband’s last boss moved from NJ to VT during Covid, I don’t know what he’s doing since there aren’t any offices local to him. Folks in NJ who worked out of Manhattan can now choose a NJ office if they wish.
I am seeing all sorts of different things. My daughter is only in the office 1 day a week, but they have a rule that you have to live in state (healthcare non-profit). I know somebody who currently works hybrid for a large finance firm. He is moving 1,000 miles away and they said he can stay on and be fully remote.
Companies are saving tons in office rental (and the associated costs of supplies, utilities, security, etc.) by letting workers stay remote. I just saw that Toast is buying out their long term lease of a big property in Boston because they don’t need the space for their remote workers.
I feel strongly that people need to spend time in the office - young and old. They need social time, they need to be mentored in person, etc. So many soft skills are honed by learning in person from others.
However, corporate bottom line is always the driving factor in business decisions.
No official monitoring by the firm - but managers are expected to make sure their team members are coming in at least twice a week. They can choose what days and times to work in-office.
Incentives: free food, some fun events periodically (many times with prizes) and occasional organized social events.
These things always were a happening where my DH worked. Nicely stocked break room with plenty of food. Sometimes sandwiches or pizza brought in for lunch. Periodic fun events. Organized social activities…but those were planned by the employees when they were at the office
Food and games seem enough to lure the kids in, but the over 30s with kids seem happy to buy their own pizza and beer at home.
It makes me wonder how much mentoring was really occuring when in-person, and whether employees really valued those work social events that HR was always organizing.
I would also say the tide is not turned all the way yet since the pandemic.
We quickly turned to remote work whenever it was possible March/April 2020.
We slowly brought people back to the office for minimal contact/occasions through the hardest times of COVID.
Not long ago - maybe 12-18 months ago we all talked (here on CC and in real life) about how remote was the future - no one wanted to go back to work. Office buildings were sitting empty or barely occupied and were ghost towns and upper management would lose the battle to bring people back.
More recently, the last several months, upper management is taking back the reigns and calling people back in person in many situations at least part of the time. SOME shift to employees who thought they could be happy WFH 90-100% of the time, now wanting to have some of that office mojo in their lives.
Will be interesting to see in another year, maybe two - how we land. Still changing I think.
That sounds terrible for the employer unless the job is a few hours of part time work with no time constraints. And a good reason to forbid full time WFH to ensure that employees do secure childcare. How can anyone be productive if they are also looking after a baby or pre-schooler while trying to work?