During the pandemic years, going back to the office seemed like an impossibility. ‘Why would we want to do that again, with all it entails?’ was the prevailing attitude.
From other people’s smelly office lunches to long, packed commutes and having to deal with annoying colleagues in person, British workers largely embraced working from home, enjoying the flexibility it brought to their lives.
For those with caring responsibilities, remote or at-home work offers the space and time to complete these tasks while still getting the job done. Working at home can also be considerably cheaper (provided you’re not spending your lunch hour browsing shopping sites), and can offer a quieter environment that is more conducive to focused work.
But come 2022, the return to the office (RTO) mandates began to roll in. Last year, UK employees were down to an average of 1.5 days a week working from home, and a poll found that a third of UK office workers would simply quit their jobs if they had to return to the office on a full-time basis.
Working from home suits some groups more than others. It won’t be surprising to learn that women want workplace flexibility, and 52% said that they had left or were considering leaving their job because of a lack of flexibility.
On the flipside, a survey recently found that Generation Z is the cohort which dislikes working from home, and 57% of them want in-person jobs.
But for those who are battling the inexorable tide of RTO mandates in their own jobs, what can be done? It’s a tricky one to challenge because many rationales for ordering workers to come back to the office are actually based on feelings, and not facts.
JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon says there are “serious weaknesses” with virtual work, including slowed decision-making and a lack of “spontaneous learning and creativity”, but a recent study from the University of Pittsburgh found that being back at the office is no better for productivity, either.
The study’s lead, Mark Ma, an associate professor of business administration from Pitt’s Katz Graduate School of Business says that “One of the most common arguments management suggests is that they want to return to office because employee productivity is low at home, and they believe returns to office would help firms improve performance and ultimately improve the firm’s value. That’s the reason they give — but our results actually do not support these arguments.”
Additionally, remote working can be directly linked to employee wellbeing. A 2022 study from Tracking Happiness found that the ability to work remotely increases employee happiness by as much as 20% and that going back to the office reduces that contentment.
But what might really clinch it for workers who are trying to make a business case to work from home is a new study which found that working remotely more than one day per week could cut emissions. This is mainly driven by less office energy use and commuting, according to Longqi Yang, an applied research manager at Microsoft and one of the paper’s authors.
“Remote work has to be significant in order to realize these kinds of benefits. This study provides a very important data point for a dimension that people care a lot about when deciding remote work policy”, Yang says.
If your company has a particular focus on ESG, engages in corporate social investment projects or has employee resource groups that are focused on the environment, this could be a lever you can pull in your effort to get more working at home time.
However, if that doesn’t work, you can always think about looking for a new job at a company with policies that are more in line with you. Discover thousands of roles on the The London Economic Job Board, or explore three current vacancies below.
Adobe is seeking a Specialist Sales Manager – Experience Cloud in London where you’ll lead a team of specialist sales executives, with responsibility for their growth, personal development and training. Plus, you’ll manage ownership of monthly solution level reporting, pipeline, market trends and internal relationships with the BU and product teams.
This Director of Retail, EMEA role at healthtech company Oura may appeal if you’d like to provide leadership, direction, and resource stewardship to the Oura EMEA sales function. As a senior sales leader, you will be accountable for identifying new market opportunities, term negotiations, overall sales performance, the profitable achievement of sales goals, and for aligning sales objectives with firm business strategy.
Or discover this National Account Manager job at Glanbia Performance Nutrition, the world’s leading premium sports nutrition company. You’ll help design and execute the commercial strategy across key customers within the convenience channel, offering an opportunity to grow your career in an exciting category, with significant scope for future growth.
Accelerate your job hunt today by visiting The London Economic Job Board
