With even the big internet firms warning staff they need to show up more often, is working from home over? Or have the attitudes and expectations of employees changed for ever?
The Office is back. Not just the Ricky Gervais sitcom, which is getting an Australian makeover with a female lead (filming began last month). No: the office is back. Amazon has issued a warning to staff who are not spending at least three days a week in the office. Meta wants its workers to do the same from next month. And if further proof were needed that working from home has officially been replaced by return to office, it was provided by Zoom. The firm, whose revenues jumped 300% during the first year of the pandemic, last week asked employees to come in for at least two days a week.
If only it were so simple for the UK’s David Brents. People still like working from home and forcing them to return can have unforeseen repercussions: for instance, research in the UK by the CIPD, the association of HR professionals, found that about 4 million people – 12% of employees – had changed careers due to a lack of flexible working, and 2 million (6%) had left their job in the last year.
