Tech Companies Are Demanding Employees Come Back To The Office But Should They?

Home sweet home!

The phrase meant so much to employees a few years ago, when most industries switched to remote work. This naturally included employees of tech companies!

However, many companies are now calling their employees back.

Amazon, for example, brought about a mandate for employees to return to the office. In turn, some employees protested the move through a walkout, which also addressed the company’s greenhouse emissions and recent layoffs.

Speaking to other employees about the protest, Amazon employee Pamela Hayter explained how the mandate would harm her family time. She also started a Slack channel for others to voice their support. Hayter said, “We don't have to spend hours of our lives in traffic, hours of our lives at an office building.”

In response to the protest, Amazon spokesperson Brad Glasser said, “We’re always listening and will continue to do so, but we’re happy with how the first month of having more people back in the office has been,” and added, “there's more energy, collaboration, and connections happening, and we've heard this from lots of employees and the businesses that surround our offices.”

Amazon isn’t alone in the boat calling for a return. Salesforce said it would donate $10 to charity per employee that physically attended the office between June 12 and 23. The list also includes companies like Disney, Starbucks, News Corp, Lyft and even Tesla.
 
However, while companies are looking to bring employees back, they might just be overlooking the advantages of working from home.

As per a report by the International Labour Organization (ILO), the remote work policies introduced during the pandemic witnessed a slew of benefits for companies and employees alike, such as increase in productivity and better work-life balance. 

As per the report, "There is a substantial amount of evidence that work–life balance policies provide significant benefits to enterprises, supporting the argument that such policies are a ‘win-win’ for both employers and employees.”

Additionally, Jon Messenger, the lead author of the report, said, “The so-called ‘Great Resignation’ phenomenon has placed work-life balance at the forefront of social and labour market issues in the post-pandemic world.”
 
Furthermore, according to a study by Stanford, spread over 9 months and consisting of 16,000 workers it was found that working from home improved productivity by 13%. The increase was attributed to a calmer and more convenient work environment, which also included more time spent per shift with lesser breaks and sick days. Additionally, workers were more satisfied and attrition rates were down by 50%. #WOW

A survey by ConnectSolutions also found that “of the 39% who work remotely at least a few times per month, 77% report greater productivity while working off site with 30% accomplishing more in less time and 24% accomplishing more in the same amount of time.”

There’s also the question of high-pressure jobs in tech companies leading to workers looking for "low-stress" jobs on popular discussion forums. (Read all about it here.)

Do you think tech companies should reconsider work from home policies? Do you prefer working from home or from the office? Let us know in the comments below!