ICYMI: Now, after two years of video meetings and Slack chats, many companies are eager to get employees back to their desks.
Google plans to start experimenting with different office designs to adapt to changing work styles. When Google employees returned to their mostly empty offices this month, they were told to relax. Office time should be “not only productive but also fun.” Explore the place a little. Don’t book back-to-back meetings.
Now, after two years of video meetings and Slack chats, many companies are eager to get employees back to their desks. The employees, however, may be not be so eager for a return to morning commutes, communal bathrooms and daytime outfits that are not athletic wear. “These celebrations and perks are a recognition by companies that they know employees don’t want to come back to the office, certainly not as frequently as before,” said Adam Galinsky, a professor at Columbia University’s business school. At least for now, he added, companies are opting for the carrot over the stick: rewarding workers for coming into the office rather than punishing them for staying home.
Nick Bloom, an economics professor at Stanford University who surveys 5,000 workers every month, said most wanted to return to the office two or three times per week. One-third never want to return to the office and prefer to remain remote. For years, Google has provided employees with Wi-Fi-equipped luxury buses to make commutes more productive and comfortable, but it’s going a step further. It is starting a program to reimburse $49 monthly leases for an electric scooter as part of its transportation options for staff. Google also plans to start experimenting with different office designs to adapt to changing work styles.
The challenge for companies, Bloom said, is how to balance flexibility in letting workers set their own schedule with a more heavy-handed approach of forcing them to come in on specific days to maximize the usefulness of office time. When Apple announced its return-to-office plan last year before another COVID surge forced a delay, more than 1,000 employees signed a letter urging management to be more open to flexible work arrangements. It was a rare show of dissent from the company’s rank and file, who historically have been less willing to openly challenge executives on workplace matters.
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