The battle between many employees’ desires to continue to work from home and many employers’ demands that they return to the workplace rages on, with Amazon one of the most recent major employers to demand a return to office.
An Ebb and Flow Among Remote Workers
According to Coworking Mag, there are more than 22 million U.S. workers who are working remotely—a number that has tripled over the past decade, driven primarily by experiences during the pandemic.
Austin, Texas; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Denver, Colorado, lead the pack in terms of the top U.S. metros with the highest share of remote workers in 2023. The most drastic surges in the number of employees working from home occurred in Omaha, Nebraska; Akron, Ohio, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
And the areas with the highest drop in remote workers in 2023 compared to 2021 were:
- #1 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA — -53%
- #2 San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA — -42%
- #3 New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ — -41%
- #4 Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR — -36%
- #5 Durham-Chapel Hill, NC — -34%
- #5 Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH — -34%
- #5 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV — -34%
- #5 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA — -34%
Taking a hard line stance against remote work has tended not to be the recommended approach when it comes to employee satisfaction and engagement. But Amazon’s experience is one that’s likely being watched by employers of all types and sizes.
Finding the Right Balance
In reality, it’s probably not necessary for companies to take a hard line stance. Some jobs may be able to be performed remotely; others may not be. A reasonable focus for organizational leaders, managers, and HR advisors is focusing on desired outcomes and productivity.
If workers can be equally, if not more, productive from remote locations, and there are no other associated concerns like privacy and security, for instance, they can reap benefits from allowing remote work. Other concerns, like maintaining relationships and collaboration among colleagues, or strengthening company culture remain unproven.
The idea that on-site work boosts company culture, a common reason to draw employees back to the office, simply isn’t supported, according to a recent PwC report. PwC itself, though, has ramped up its employee monitoring, sending a clear signal of distrust.
Finding the right balance between business and employee needs is critical. Open and transparent conversations to share benefits and potential concerns can be a good start.
Lin Grensing-Pophal is a Contributing Editor at HR Daily Advisor.
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