Now we all know how the concept of remote work exploded onto the work scene with the emergence of the COVID-19 Pandemic back in 2019. Prior to that, remote work was very limited, and the mass majority of work necessitated office presence.
However, with the very strict social distancing global rules designed to limit the rate of COVID infections at the time, the workplace had to cope with the situation and remote work was introduced and in many cases enforced- globally.
Fast forward a few years later when many aspects of life have returned to normal and most social distancing rules have been lifted (we barely even hear the term anymore), working from home however has very strongly continued while undergoing a relative transformation into a hybrid model which involves working part of the week from the office and the rest remotely.
The question is, will the concept of remote work slowly come to an end or is it truly here to stay?
More Employers Are Calling to End Remote Work and Bring People Back to the Office
As early as May 2021, CEO of Goldman Sachs informed his employees that they need to get ready to return to the office very soon. Elon Musk’s first action after acquiring twitter was putting an end to the company’s “Work From Anywhere” policy and clearly stated that employees need to spend 40 hours a week in the office.
Many others made similar announcements to their work force and the most common reasoning behind these announcements were mainly concerns over the lack of in-person collaboration between staff members as well as fears over the maintenance of company culture. The culture bit is especially true for fresh grads who have never experienced an office environment before and therefore are getting a lot less exposure to the company’s culture (and office culture in general) than they would have during the pre-pandemic era.
That’s not to say that remote or hybrid work did not involve advantages to employers however with many studies showing a significant rise in staff productivity since taking on a remote role. Allowing remote work has also become a strong employee retention tool which is invaluable in today’s competitive job market. Then of course, there’s the big advantage of significant cost savings on office rental space and maintenance.
What Can We Expect The Future to Look Like
Future expectations can change from one day to another but on current evidence at this moment, the hybrid work model is not likely to end anytime soon.
Millennials currently form the largest population of the workforce globally and according to surveys conducted worldwide; the majority of millennials clearly want remote work to continue and, in many cases, will not even consider a job that does not allow remote work. Then you have the future of the workforce in GenZ and according to surveys, 56% of Gen Z prefer remote work and are not keen to work from the office all week long. Only older generations such as baby boomers do not generally view remote work as a necessity and do not mind being in the office during the work week.
It is however generally in the best interest of companies to cater and adapt to the requirements of current and future generations if they hope to retain their top talent and become an attractive destination for job seekers in a competitive market. A key part of these requirements currently is the continuation of the hybrid work model.
