Fixed wireless in the form of WiFi hotspots that leverage existing wired networks and LTE-based mobile broadband has been around for a while. But it is with the rollout of…
As life begins to fluctuate in response to the pandemic, companies are trying to work through what happens next– whether their employees should be returning to work, staying home, or going hybrid– without a doubt, it’s a hot debate among all involved.
For over a year now many people across the world have been working remotely as the uncertainty of the pandemic ensued. While once mandatory due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies and their employees are pushing for it to continue in some form or another.
In early 2021, Gartner found that about 70% of people want to continue working remotely, especially those employees in positions of customer service and support functions, who may have never had a chance to until COVID-19.
“Service employees, who traditionally did not have many work-from-home opportunities, have become used to it and like it, and the majority (about 70%) wish to continue,” the Gartner study explains.
While some companies are wary that employee productivity and career development opportunities will be reduced because of remote work, COVID-19 brought us a new understanding. A whopping 63% of human resources leaders say they believe a hybrid workplace that includes a balance of both off-site and on-site work is ideal in a report by TINYpulse. They believe employee performance is optimized in the hybrid workforce model.
Coupled with that perspective, 41% of the workforce has said they are considering quitting their current jobs according to the 2021 Work Trend Index conducted by Microsoft. The US Labor Department mirrors these findings in their recent report that showed that a staggering 4 million people resigned from their jobs in April 2021 alone.
The mass departure of employees nationwide has been named the “Great Resignation” by many experts. As to what may be causing this widespread desire to leave one’s workplace in recent months, it is likely attributed to a combination of causes.
For the majority of employees, the pandemic was the first time they experienced working remotely. Many people have reflected on work-life balance during that time, along with the time and resources required to work on-site. A remote-work culture brought with it benefits, from reduced or no commuting time to the flexibility to complete productive work in a synergistic way that balanced personal and family needs.
When surveyed, 73 percent of employees didn’t want their work schedules to go back to business as usual of the pre-pandemic era. They would be satisfied with more flexible remote work options. Meanwhile, about 67 percent of people want more in-person time at their workplaces.
Not all employees favor a 100% remote working model, with some people missing the connections they feel with their colleagues in an in-person working environment. Others have become increasingly averse to video meetings and being “pinged on Slack or Teams,” They desire a combination of digital and in-person meetings, where they feel they can experience better collaboration and comradery.
The increasing shift to remote or hybrid working models also opens opportunities for companies. Without geographic or time constraints, businesses can tap into a broader and more diverse talent pool. With these flexible working models, there are more accessible options for jobs for people who live in a region where opportunities were once scarce.
With the uncertainty of the Delta variant and new CDC recommendations just announced, many companies are pivoting — delaying plans for employees to return to the office. For instance, Apple announced that they are delaying their “return to office” plans until October as a precaution. With that, remote and hybrid workplace models may be here to stay, for the time being.
