As lockdown restrictions ease around the world there are ongoing discussions around what the nature of work will look like. The past 18 months have seen the biggest shift to remote working ever seen. The shift has profound implications not only for the workplace itself but also for the towns and cities that have often evolved around them.
The question largely remains whether the widespread shift to remote working will endure after the restrictions around the pandemic ease. A survey of around 1,000 IT professionals from the U.S. and U.K. by Spiceworks Ziff Davis (SWZD) suggests that the allure of remote working has begun to wear off for many.
They show that whereas 61% of employees were working from home during the pandemic, this was expected to fall to around 30% once the lockdown restrictions ease.
“While the research indicates a drop to 30% of the workforce working remote once it’s safe to return to offices, the majority of companies (57%) will keep flexible work policies in place, pointing in many cases to a hybrid model blending in-person and at-home work going forward,” says Peter Tsai, Head of Technology Insights at SWZD.
Mixing and matching
A second survey, from Nyenrode Business University, Open University, and Moneypenny reinforces the likelihood of such a “hybrid” approach. They found that of the employees who are currently working from home due to Covid, practically all wish to remain doing so when restrictions ease.
What is perhaps most illustrative, however, is that hardly any want to work from home full-time, with some 88% of employees wanting to mix and match between remote work and office-based work depending on their personal circumstances.
The study revealed that people were missing human contact with their colleagues but were nonetheless concerned that blanket policies might be introduced that don’t work for them. For instance, there was little enthusiasm to return to the office in order to sit in tedious and unproductive meetings.
Personal working
For instance, many employees revealed that they had replaced lengthy face-to-face meetings with more bite-sized communication with colleagues via various digital platforms. This form of communication was found to make up around 4.5 hours each day, with most respondents feeling positive about this in terms of how it supports their work.
Despite this, however, there was nonetheless a desire to receive more real contact with their colleagues, which was cited as the main disadvantage of working from home by over 75% of respondents.
“From the three psychological basic human needs – autonomy, competence and connection – the latter is most under pressure when people work home for such a long period of time as during the corona crisis,” the researchers say.
The results suggest that people have been working remotely for long enough now to have developed a style that works for them. The prolonged exposure to remote working has put a strain on the cohesion of teams, however, while the mental wellbeing of workers has also suffered, resulting in a fall in satisfaction with work.
Personal control
Many years ago Dan Pink highlighted the crucial role autonomy plays in our motivation at work, so it’s perhaps no surprise that many employees want control over where they work. Some 88% of people want to work in a hybrid mishmash of home and office-based work that is largely (co-)determined with their boss.
“If people, even when they physically can, do not physically want to come to work anymore because it is not efficient for them, you must weigh this freedom against long-term interests such as trust, responsibility, and connection,” the researchers explain.
Of course, a third survey, from Unisys Corporation, highlights the enduring challenges that may prevent such autonomy and flexibility from being afforded to workers as we exit the Covid era. While the long-term experiment with flexible working has hopefully dispelled some of the myths surrounding things like productivity, while also giving managers plenty of time to adapt their processes in areas such as monitoring, it has also traditionally been an area beset by inequalities.
Unequal access
For instance, research from the University of Birmingham has shown that, historically, flexible work has been offered only to highly skilled workers. Research from the University of Kent also found that the availability of remote work differed depending on the gender makeup of the organization.
It found that in workplaces where the majority of workers are female, there were less flexible working opportunities available than in gender-neutral or even male-dominated workplaces. The paper suggests there may be a correlation between the two studies, as female-dominated workplaces are often lower-wage workplaces, with low wages typically accompanied by worse working conditions.
The Unisys researchers reinforce the importance of parity across any form of hybrid workforce that emerges after Covid. This revolves around what they refer to as “experience parity”, which basically means ensuring that all employees, whether remote or on-site, are afforded the same exceptional employee experience.
“Businesses everywhere must place a greater priority on enhancing employee experiences, which in turn will drive higher productivity, collaboration, and better customer outcomes,” they say.
The desire for this equity in the workplace was reinforced by a study from LSE, which showed that non-financial perks significantly widened inequality in society. We’ve already seen clear divides between those who can work remotely during the pandemic and those who cannot. Will managers manage to construct a more equitable situation in the post-pandemic world?
