One of Sweden’s largest employers has announced that it will be reducing desk space and redesigning all 400 of its offices over the next five years in order to shift half of its workforce to remote work arrangements.
Prior to the pandemic, most of telecommunications company Ericsson’s 102,000 employees worked remotely one day each week.
“It became very clear during the spring of 2020, that we are never going back to the old way of working,” said Peter Laurin, head of Managed Services at Ericsson. “It should be ok to work from home. Over the long run, we are aiming for a hybrid model, a vision of fifty-fifty between the office and remote working.”
While vaccination rates have improved in the country, 85% of the company’s employees are still working from home due to the findings from internal surveys.
After pandemic-related restrictions are lifted, managers and workers will work together to see what the best possible work atmosphere will be for them.
“It’s up to each manager to coordinate with their employees – how do you become the most productive,” said Laurin. “How do you get the most collaboration and output while having high employee satisfaction?”
