Managers are afraid of remote because it is more work for them.
Sucks for them, the 37% will soon become 95% because remote work is self-amplifying: the 60% office is not a good place to work
Sucks for them, the 37% will soon become 95% because remote work is self-amplifying: the 60% office is not a good place to work
Why?
I've worked in person, ~40% remote, and 100% remote. I thoughtv~40% remote was far and away the best work situation. The only necessary component to make it work was that my team had to be there on the same days. So far as I can tell, for trust building and certain kinds of collaborative work (some of which is super important) nothing beats in person. Given that the survery results indicate most people still don't want full remote, why wouldn't they go with a mixed in-person/remote setup?
My office was so crowded before the pandemic that the 60% office might actually be a more pleasant place to work. Less trouble finding conference rooms, bathrooms ... nap rooms. Less packed transit would also make me enjoy my office workday even more.
That said, 60% of a previously almost-empty office could indeed be a bad place to work.
The discussion here is usually uber-focused on tech startups. Most jobs are not like that, they are normal offices without massages and washing machines, and are not overcrowded. But an office filled with 40% of random employees who are constantly making noisy zoom meetings feels more like a customer call center than a place where you can focus.
We 're still in the early days of remote and people are still afraid of it/ have not adapted their lives around it. When people settle in this new reality, the desire to see the office is going to wane a lot.
Corporate seems loathe to just go fully remote. We're apparently in a hiring drive; I'm curious if they're trying to overstaff so they have some breathing room for people that quit when they force us back in to the office.
Also, isn't the inverse also as likely, i e., if 60% are remote and the job is more challenging for managers, then they'll find opportunities to replace the 60%?