Since the beginning of COVID-19, now well over a year, some company managers thought that people would come flocking back to the office once generous unemployment benefits ended. Instead, after Republican states cut the $300-a-week Federal benefit and other benefits expired, there has been no rush to return to the workforce. There are many reasons for this. People do not want to catch COVID-19 and new variants; people are sick of their bad jobs; early retirement; and the one I care about today - bosses still think they can force skilled workers to return to offices. Employees are continuing to resign, find new lines of work, and are saying ‘not thanks’ for too long commutes and then spend their day in a cubicle workspace.
People with talent and high-value skills, like most technology workers, are not returning to traditional offices. A Hackajob survey of 2,000 UK tech workers and employers found not quite three-quarters (72%) of tech workers said having the ability to do remote work was very important to them. And over one in five were looking for new jobs with remote work. A more recent Microsoft survey found UK techies felt even stronger about the issue. In this MS survey, it found over half of the employees would consider quitting if you tried to force them back into the office.
It is not just in the UK. A Future Forum Pulse survey found IT workers in the US, UK, Australia, France, Germany, and Japan all had one thing in common: Most want to work at least part of the time remotely. More than 75% want flexibility in where they work, while 93% want flexibility in when they work. The top reason: "Better work-life balance."
Many executives and owners have not gotten the message yet. An estimated 44% said they wanted to work from the office daily; their employees, only 17%. Three-quarters of bosses said they at least wanted to work from the office 3-5 days a week, versus 34% of employees. This means that for the first time, maybe ever, workers not employers, are in control.
One of the easiest things you can give your tech workers is the ability to work from home. Any doubts you may have about people not doing a good job unless you are looking over their shoulders should have vanished by now. The CEO of Facebook, recently said, "I've found that working remotely has given me more space for long-term thinking and helped me spend more time with my family, which has made me happier and more productive at work."
It is not just in the tech world. The director of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab and MIT postdoctoral scholar found in their analysis of the 5.4% increase in US labor productivity in the first quarter of 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), that some of this came from compressing "a decade's worth of digital innovation in areas like remote work into less than a year." Looking ahead, they see the biggest productivity impact coming from the continuation of the work-from-home trend. Workers agree.
The monthly academic WFH research.com survey has found almost six out of ten workers reported being more productive working from home. On average, respondents' productivity at home was 7% higher than they expected. In short, working from home is here to stay, period. They calculate that these working arrangements will increase overall worker productivity in the US by 5% as compared with the pre-pandemic economy.
This does not mean that managers must give up the traditional office entirely. In the Dice State of Remote Work report, there is a remote work spectrum. Some workers never want to walk into the office again, but others like a flexible work schedule where they can work outside of the office a set number of days per week or month. By using Dice's figures, only one in five workers are bound and determined to never come into the office again. 75% would be fine with flex work. But, only 3% want to go back to the traditional 9 to 5, every weekday at the office. A reported 7% of respondents said they would even take a 5% salary cut to work only remotely.
Why do they feel so strongly? It works better for them and for a company. A reported 53% of technologists listed greater productivity as one of the main benefits of working from home. Another 59% said that feeling more relaxed while working was a major benefit. As for their personal benefits, 80% agree that money saved on commuting is the main perk, especially with current gas prices. Like Facebook said, 47% find it gives them a better work/life balance. It's not that they are sitting back and watching HBO instead of working as many bosses feared, it is having the extra minutes to get the kids lunch ready, to take the dog out for a walk, or see the doctor while still being able to get their work done. The work-from-home trend, Dice believes, is only going to grow stronger.
Red Sky Alliance is a Cyber Threat Analysis and Intelligence Service organization and offers proactive solutions to protect your networks. Cyber intelligence is a needed key for your overall cyber security. For questions, comments, or assistance, please contact the office directly at 1-844-492-7225, or feedback@wapacklabs.com
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