The pandemic changed many things about our lifestyles, and one way we were affected is how we work.
Before the pandemic, many companies still required their employees to work in the office all or most days of the week. Of course, when everyone was on lockdown, employers had to get creative and figure out ways to allow their employees to work from home in order for their companies to survive. So now that worries about the pandemic have ceased, why haven’t we just all gone back to work in the office? There are a few reasons we may never go back to that normal for work.
Employees are happier.
According to LinkedIn, there are several reasons why working in a hybrid environment leads to happier employees. For one, not having to commute back and forth to work saves time, and employees can spend this extra time on things that give them joy whether it’s with family or doing a recreational activity. Another reason for increased contentment is that employees feel a hybrid setup has allowed them to accomplish a better work-life balance. According to LinkedIn, “The ability to alternate between home and office work reduces the stress of rigid work schedules and daily commutes.”
Employers are saving money on office space.
When employers ask their staff to come into the office only 2-3 days per week, they can cut back on the physical office space they have to lease or purchase. Some companies schedule departments to work in the office on alternating days, that way they can share desk space. Since many meetings can be covered by video services like Zoom, it’s not likely employers will give up this advantage anytime soon. Numerous companies had to close their doors during the pandemic so any cut to costs that allows a company’s doors to stay open is surely to be considered for the long run.
Employees are actually more productive.
In the early days of working from home, employers worried their workers would be goofing off at home rather than putting in their required effort. Therefore, there was a tendency to want to install monitoring apps on employees’ computers that notified an employer of every keystroke or how often a computer screen was idle. But, employers are getting away from this micromanaging and instead evaluating performance and production as a whole. Their findings is that given the freedom of working from home and letting them experience autonomy, employees are actually more productive rather than less.
So, good news if you love the freedom of work that grew out of the pandemic.
Hybrid working appears to be here to stay for the foreseeable future. According to CBS News, the change is significant, “The last time America’s work schedule shifted so dramatically was during the Great Depression, when Franklin Roosevelt signed the 40-hour week into law.” For those who have the discipline to thrive working from home, this aftermath of the pandemic has paid off.
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