New Evidence Shows WFH Isn’t Going Away
Some analysts, and companies, still aren’t embracing the concept, but many office dwelling workers are reluctant to return to the office.
There are some different schools of thought on remote work, or working from home, but several new indicators strongly suggest that the trend—which has existed for decades but has surged in popularity during the pandemic—likely represents, at least in part, the future of work.
A new survey from The Conference Board found that a mere 28% of US employees expect to go back to their offices by year’s end. Further, just 17% of respondents feel ‘very comfortable’ returning, at any point, and 31% are simply ‘not comfortable.’
There was a particular split in the ranks, with 20% of individual contributors feeling pressure to return, while just 4% of C-suite executives felt that issue.
“Without a continuous dialogue, and in many cases, the lack of a detailed plan about returning to the workplace, it comes as no surprise that these workers are more apprehensive,” said Rebecca Ray, EVP, human capital at The Conference Board.
Some companies are leaning into that discomfort. Technology giant Microsoft last week said it would allow employees to work from home permanently, while others could—if they choose—come into the office just some of the time, The New York Times reported.
And recent research by the Partnership for New York City indicated that employers only expect 54%—or just over half—of their workforce to return to the office by next July.
On the other side of the debate, JP Morgan has expressed concerns about employee productivity while Google CFO Ruth Porat told Bloomberg TV that to foster innovation, employees need to work together in-person.
And in a GlobeSt article last week, George Hasenecz, senior vice president, investments, Brandywine Realty Trust, asserted that the office still has many advantages to bringing employees together in an office space that can’t be replicated with a remote workforce.
When working from home, he asked, “how do you maintain your culture, bring new employees on and recruit? [It] really does go against people’s needs and desires to come together. We think that Class A office is going to be in high demand. There still is the competition for talent and office space will be used as a recruiting tool.”