The return-to-office wars are over
axios.com
Just 6 out of 158 U.S. CEOs said they'll prioritize bringing workers back to the office full-time in 2024, according to a new survey released by the Conference Board.
Why it matters: Executives are increasingly resigned to a world where employees don't come in every day, as hybrid work arrangements — mixing work from home and in-office — become the norm for knowledge workers.
Zoom in: "Maintain hybrid work," was cited as a priority by 27% of the U.S. CEOs who responded to the survey, conducted in October and November.
- A separate survey of chief financial officers by Deloitte, conducted in November, found that 65% of CFOs expect their company to offer a hybrid arrangement this year.
State of play: "Remote work appears likely to be the most persistent economic legacy of the pandemic," write Goldman Sachs economists in a recent note.
- About 20%-25% of workers in the U.S. work from home at least part of the week, according to data Goldman cites.
- That's below a peak of 47% during the pandemic but well above its prior average of around 3%.
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I'm pretty convinced that RTO was another way to do layoffs without severance or "bad" press. What I would like to see now are more job roles finding freedom in working times. I think many jobs have strict scheduling for a reason, but I suspect more jobs don't require you to be physically present all the time to get it done.
I don't know about that. I work a office job and often deal with people from all over the world. Getting everyone online at the same time for a meeting or phone call is really difficult.
Yes I can send emails but sending an email and not getting a response till next morning really eats into timelines.
We can have video meetings and phone calls and share screens so I fully understand WFH and support it. That said having no requirements for work time I think would be really bad.
I didn't mean to intend not to set up good working times with your teams. Scheduling will always be a challenge but that's something that leadership should give teams the freedom to decide what works best for them. Especially on global teams, some people would like to rotate, some would rather work on evenings for them, etc.. That's for the members to figure out. What I mean is for roles like say Social workers who do need to make in person visits, get more freedom in their working hours and not having to spend their time at a desk where there's no real value.