5 years after the rise of remote work, the thrust to the office is stronger than ever, either why

The Covid-19 pandemia marked the beginning of a new way of working remotely, but even the companies that initially defended the model are changing their melody.

In recent months, employees throughout corporate America, from Amazon to Dell and Walmart, as well as federal government workers, have been told that their work days remotely have ended at least with that employer. Instead, selected employees have been He called the offices again Five days a week, an investment of conversations in 2020 that promoted remote and hybrid options Like the future of work.

But those who have come to appreciate the new flexibility are not giving it easily.

While remote job opportunities have fallen, competition to land is fierce: only 20% of LinkedIn publications are for remote or hybrid jobs, but get 60% of applications on the platform.

And almost half of the employees who work remotely at least some times they say that they are unlikely to stay in their work if they were called back to their offices full -time, according to Bamboohr data.

If employees choose to stay, some rebel against mandates just making brief appearances in the office, also known as Coffee failure. Or can stay but be less committed In his work, which translates into lower productivity and performance.

In the five -year debate between remote work and the return to the offices, what can people expect below?

In fact, a Study 2024 Of the S&P 500 companies, they discovered that companies were more likely to order RTO after the prices of their shares would go down, hoping that the time in the office will stimulate productivity and, therefore, increase the final result.

It is more likely that certain types of leaders want people to return to the offices, says Mark Ma, associated business professor at Pittsburgh University who directed the research.

“We find that the mandates return to the office are more likely in companies with CEO men and powerful,” says Ma. “They are accustomed to working in the office for five days a week. And they feel they are losing control over their employees who work from home.”

It is not surprising to see that more RTO mandates take shape as the power has changed in the labor market, of employees during the great resignation of employers in a New dismissal environment.

It is a basic economy: with new job creation and hiringEmployers have more job applicants than open roles and, therefore, less incentives to offer benefits such as flexible work.

Meanwhile, some experts say that companies issue RTO mandates as a call “dismissal of the posterior channel”, where they expect policy to drive people to resign.

The Amazon CEO, Andy Jassy, ​​said in a City Council of Employees that this was It is not the goal From the five -day RTO policy of the technological giant after his cloud boss, Matt Garman said that employees who do not agree with the rule I could leave.

But are the workers in the most compromised and productive office? The results They are not conclusive.

There is no Very firm research As for whether companies with a five -day policy in the office better work as a business or in the stock market. “But we find significant evidence that the mandates return to the office harm employee job satisfaction,” says Ma.

His research analyzed millions of Glassdoor work reviews among the companies that issued RTO mandates. A correlation: job satisfaction classifications fell “significantly.”

And RTO led to greater turnover between a certain staff, including womenHighly qualified and high -level employees: “Not the people you want to lose,” says Ma.

Companies with new RTO policies also took longer to hire new employees.

Even so, some workers welcome more time in the office, such as Clinton Stamper, 29, a Amazon software engineer in Austin, Texas.

Like many with desk work, he worked completely remotely for three years during the pandemic, but he felt disconnected from his colleagues. It also allowed its procrastination.

However, in the office, “you can have small conversations in an elevator. You can find random leadership and make a lifting tone of your idea,” he says.

Stamper says that working from an office helps him stay focused and better collaborate with his colleagues.

He acknowledges that remote work can be beneficial for others in a different stage of life, such as parents and caregivers, or those who have different work styles.

Ultimately, for him, “I was excited to enter there and do a job in person with all my teammates,” says Stamper.

Office workers can also boost the local economy and support small businesses located near corporate buildings.

“Food trucks, laundry services: there are many companies that depend on workers in the office,” says Kantenga. “And when workers are not in the office, these businesses are not doing well.”

Professionals may be spending More time in offices today That they did in the last five years, but the spread of remote flexibility has left a permanent brand in the way the work is done, experts say.

According to only 1 out of 14, more than 1 in 4 working days paid in the United States in 2024, compared to only 1 in 14 of the pre-pandemics days, according to WFH research data.

Most companies with remote and hybrid policies do not intend to change them in the next 12 months, according to New surveys findings of Stanford and the Bank of the Federal Reserve of Atlanta.

Ma agrees that Hybrid is here to stay – He believes that large companies can afford to lose employees and candidates in reducing remote options, but smaller employers You will not be able to do the same.

“Smaller companies are actually providing talent flexibility as a way of attracting the talent of the largest competitors,” he says.

Some companies can even reverse the course after adopting RTO rules.

H&R Block called for the first time Corporate staff returns to the offices three days a week in 2021, but an increase in COVID-19, the hiring of more remote workers and employees’ comments against the assistance requirement led the company to discard the original plans.

From 2024, the Giant of Fiscal Services eliminated a RTO policy throughout the company and now allows individual teams to establish the assistance policies of their own office.

Changing demography within the workforce could lead to a more favorable labor market and working conditions for employees, says Kantenga. “The population is aging and our workforce shrinks,” he says. “As this is reduced, employers will have to do more to attract employees, and offer flexible work could be what they have to do.”

Sam Spurlin advises companies on how to manage remote, hybrid and office work, and, most importantly, how everything affects people who make companies work.

“And at the end of the day, there are many people talking about RTO as a very simple response to solve many very complicated and complex problems within organizations,” says Splurlin.

“Then, it may have a role in certain environments and in certain cases performed carefully. But if we believe that we are going to greet the Magic Rto wand and solve some really fundamental problems in our organizations, we will be quite disappointed.”

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