The initial transition to remote working may not have been as difficult as the next phase of the workplace. Now, many companies are struggling to lure in their long-isolated employees.
Understandably so, there has been a cloud of uncertainty about returning to the office. While the autumn was supposed to mark when employees would shift to in-person arrangements once more, the surge in Covid-19 cases caused by the Delta variant has forced companies to postpone their return-to-office dates.
Technology companies have piloted the sentiment towards remote work, and it’s likely that their return-to-office policies will have an impact on the workforce as a whole as well.
While most tech jobs can easily be done remotely, many companies have told employees they should come into the workplace at least part of the week. This is mainly because industry leaders understand that innovation and creativity thrives with in-person collaboration.
However, other organizations are more flexible in their arrangements, with Twilio’s Chief People Officer Christy Lake stating that workers will have the ability to decide how often they should come into the office.
“There is no data that supports that really happens in real life, and yet we all subscribe to it,” said Lake. “You can’t put the genie back in the bottle and tell people, ‘Oh you have to be back in the office or innovation won’t happen.’”
