It’s back, back, back to work I go!

Many employees have been mandated to return to the office as corporate giants around the world review and revise their Covid-induced work-from-home policies.

Mega corporates such as Amazon and Apple now require their employees to return to the office for at least three days a week, whilst other large corporates such as Disney and Goldman Sachs now demand a four or five-day working week back at the workplace from their employees.

Understandably, many employees, globally, have pushed back against these new mandates, maintaining that remote working policies now form an integral part of the new world of work.

Some employees who chose to relocate during the work-from-home boom now face some tough decisions as to whether to pack up their new lives in their new locations and return to the areas in which their offices are based, or resign. Employees who have been able to find new jobs that allow them to continue working remotely have had an easier choice.

There is a strong body of evidence, gleaned from numerous surveys conducted globally, to suggest that flexible work arrangements are extremely popular amongst employees. This translates to a significant portion of skills who are in search of greater flexibility in their work locations.

This further translates to a burgeoning number of opportunistic employers who will use remote or hybrid working as a carrot to attract top skills. Companies that are not flexible with regard to their remote working policies are likely to suffer negative consequences as a result of their intransigence.

Of course, the labour market has a big say in what employers and employees can and cannot do. When all is said and done there will have to be some compromises from both employer as well as employee. It is envisaged that the market will settle somewhere between what the employers want, and what employees want, with neither party getting its own way.

Whatever the outcomes of these negotiations, current office attendance levels in many organisations around the world remain significantly lower than pre-Covid levels.

Some companies in South Africa are returning to their ‘work from the office’ policies, although, as can be expected, there are many employees who are not at all happy about this. Watch this space!

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