One significant effect of the Covid-19 pandemic was the drastic increase in remote working. The lockdowns, quarantines and self-imposed isolation pushed companies to consider home working, accelerating a workplace experience that had struggled to gain popularity before the pandemic.
However, with the reopening of economies, the question remains: Is working from home a thing of the past? Read on and learn more about the future of remote work.
The Remote Working Era Could Be Fading Away
Although some companies favor remote working, others are reducing the number of remote offerings. According to LinkedIn data, remote work positions fell to 14% in September from a high of 20% in February. But this decline in remote work listings has not reduced employees’ demand for workplace flexibility. More than half of job applicants preferred remote roles.
According to a CNN report, many CEOs want their employees back in the office at least a couple of days weekly, indicating a shift to hybrid work. Some CEOs have taken extreme measures, such as Elon Musk of Twitter, who mandated that all employees work from the office five days a week or lose their job.
Here are a couple of indicators that remote working is fading away.
1. Some employees have yet to have the opportunity of working from home.
Even among industries in which remote working is rampant, some employees have little or no opportunity to work from home. Working from home may be difficult for jobs requiring collaboration or having high-value roles. Industries like law and finance are less likely than other jobs to allow employees to complete their functions remotely. These sectors require in-person interactions and prioritize work culture. According to JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon, remote work does not maintain the company’s culture. He believes that bank branch employees and traders should be back at physical locations.
Also, remote work is impossible for other sectors in which workers must use specialized machinery. These include providing care, using lab equipment and operating machines. Also, jobs like processing customer transactions in a store and delivering orders cannot be done remotely.
Due to some activities’ physical nature, workers must be in-person or onsite. Occupations like food services, transportation, agriculture and property management offer little or no opportunity to work from home. These job categories have low remote work listings.
2. The tech industry is no longer embracing remote work entirely.
The pandemic increased the rate at which tech companies hired remote workers. With technological tools like video conferencing, workers could virtually see and speak to each other in real-time anywhere, which became an ample replacement for face-to-face meetings. Teleworking was quickly getting accepted by many tech companies globally. This kind of work did not necessarily require employees to work only from home. Many turned to co-working spaces, coffee shops or even hotels to meet their job responsibilities and career goals.
However, working from home may no longer be the perfect working model in the tech industry. Many companies that believed remote work is the “future of work” during the pandemic are slowly shunning away from it. Many tech companies are worried about junior workers’ skill development and progression when working from home. They also believe lack of face time with employees causes cultural issues. Remote work also makes it hard for employers to spot potential workers’ issues like dissatisfaction and health problems.
Is The Hybrid Work Model A Suitable Replacement For Remote Working?
The hybrid work model combines remote work with working in an office, especially for occupations with high remote work potential. As the demand for flexibility increases among workers, many industries have considered the hybrid work model. Employees are allowed to work from home some days of the week.
However, where employees are allowed to work and on which days depends on the industry, job type and company. According to the findings of McKinsey Global Institute research, 22% of workers in the U.S. workforce can work from home between three to five days a week without compromising productivity.
Although there is a decline in work-from-home job opportunities in the U.S., the demand for flexible working models among employees is increasing. Many workers have touted the work flexibility benefits, including work-life balance and mental health, and are unwilling to part with it.
Conclusion
Many tech companies dramatically increased remote work during the pandemic. However, many are no longer in favor of this working model. Instead, they are looking for other options that will allow workplace flexibility. Companies like Salesforce and Google are largely implementing hybrid policies in which employees only work from home periodically.
For many companies, remote work has been a privilege and not a worker’s right. But all is not lost for those who want to work exclusively from home. Some companies still hire remote workers, but you must be indispensable to secure a space in this tight job market.
That said, working from home may be slowly fading away, and moving back to the office has started. However, embracing flexible work arrangements will help employers maintain their company culture and accomplish mandatory in-office activities while giving workers the flexibility they require.
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