We’re Going Back! Here’s What To Expect
Ever since the first emergency lockdown order was issued in Ontario in mid-March 2020, the same question has been on everyone’s mind, “when are we getting back to normal?”.
Now, a year and a half into the pandemic, Ontario is still not back to “normal” and it looks as though some aspects of society may never return to the way they were, especially when it comes to jobs that can be performed remotely.
Pre-pandemic, “working from home” was a relatively progressive and underused tactic. Some companies allowed workers a day or two a week while other businesses eschewed the practice completely, perhaps due to a perception at the time that workers could never be as productive at home as they could be in an office. The immediate shift to remote work caused by the pandemic did not simply alter that perception but proved it to be an entirely false narrative.
In fact, the move to remote working was so successful that now, as a return to offices is on the horizon, many workers are digging their heels in and saying they don’t want to go back.
The Work From Home Phenomena
There are few things to be thankful for when it comes to COVID-19, but perhaps the silver lining of this whole ordeal has been this incredible, global experiment in working from home. Over the past year and a half, employees and employers have seen that working from home can be just as effective productivity-wise and employees have noticed some real perks to avoiding their daily commute.
A recent survey by Angus Reid found that two-thirds (66%) of respondents are not willing to jump right back into office life after restrictions are lifted and would instead prefer a hybrid model involving work time split between home and office. Sixty-eight percent of respondents also indicated they wouldn’t tolerate a commute of more than 30 minutes, while 31% put their foot down at 15 minutes. Quite a change from pre-pandemic times where commutes of 45 minutes or longer were considered the norm.
The study also delved into the reasons working from home is so appealing to many Canadians and discovered the following were the top perks too valuable to give up:
More time for employed parents to spend with their kids (89%)
More time to prepare healthy meals (76%)
More time to exercise (71%)
Less money spent on clothes (61%)
Greater ability to try local businesses for the first time (47%)
If working from home helps employees to be healthier, spend more time with their families, save money, and grow local communities, a hybrid model would be a win-win for everyone.
However, the debate still rages on the efficacy of remote working, but fortunately, the pandemic has provided plenty of opportunity for study. One study in particular of an Asian technology company provided some surprising results.
Same Output, More Work
From April 2019 until August 2020, over 10,000 employees at an Asian technology firm were part of a study that used sophisticated tracking on employees’ computers to determine if productivity was affected by the switch to remote working.
The findings were fascinating and, surprisingly, in employers’ favour. While the argument against working from home has typically been a fear that employees would ‘slack off’, it seems working from home has the opposite effect. In fact, results from this study showed that total hours worked were 30% higher than before the pandemic and work outside normal business hours increased by 18%. The catch was, all this additional output didn’t increase productivity, which remained the same as before the pandemic. Therefore the conclusion was that while a work-from-home workforce had no detrimental effect on productivity, it increased the actual hours worked by employees, decreasing productivity per hour by 20%.
It appears as though the time saved on commuting wasn’t actually “saved” at all, but simply redistributed to other work-related tasks.
Lessons For Employers Post-Pandemic
For employers, the choice seems obvious. Allowing employees to work from home increases their satisfaction without impacting productivity, which is a win-win for all involved. Of course, the office certainly has its advantages and after a year and a half, many workers are ready to shut off their Zoom meetings in exchange for the real thing. It certainly seems that employers offering hybrid models and more working freedom will be the ones sought after by employees.
The big, fancy downtown office is no longer the draw it once was. The post-pandemic working environment has leveled the playing field for companies in rural or less desirable areas—they can now compete for top talent with big, downtown firms if the right incentives are offered.
In the future, we believe the companies that are willing to be adaptive and offer employees the freedom to choose their own hybrid model of working will attract the best talent and ultimately come out on top.