The dilemma between home office and office – 07/14/2023 – Deborah Bizarria

With the end of the pandemic, technology giants like Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Twitter are already demanding a return to the office. At the same time, many workers who have become accustomed to the benefits of working from home are unwilling to budge. So what will the future of work look like?

The fact is that many had to return to the office and there is already a difference between what is desired and the days when many employees are effectively working from home. According to the WFH Research survey, workers in Brazil report that on average they work 1.7 days at home while they would like more time: 2.3 days. In addition, they would be willing to give up about 7 to 8% of their salary for the option of working in the hybrid model, with even higher values ​​for women, people with small children and people with longer commutes.

Still according to the survey, the main benefits of working at home are: avoiding commuting, reducing gas or lunch costs and flexibility in working hours. In particular, commuting, which is often time-consuming and stressful, has a negative impact on workers’ well-being. At the same time, many also recognize that face-to-face interactions are beneficial, as are socializing with colleagues and team collaboration moments.

Benefits are not just for workers. The home office had a positive effect on productivity, from the perspective of companies, according to a survey by FGV Ibre. Between 2021 and 2022, the proportion of companies that saw increased productivity with the home office rose from 21.6% to 30%. At the same time, the proportion of companies that noticed a reduction in productivity with the home office fell from 19.4% to 10.2%. Despite these gains, there are still complaints: the high number of virtual meetings and the difficulty in mentoring employees at the beginning of their careers.

What the data reveals is that remote work can bring benefits for both workers and companies, such as greater flexibility, satisfaction and productivity. However, it also brings challenges that need to be faced, such as less social interaction, the difficulty of separating work from personal life, the loss of opportunities for learning and professional development.

Given this scenario, it is likely that the future of office work will be in a hybrid format, that is, a combination of remote and face-to-face work. This model can take advantage of the benefits and mitigate the costs of fully remote work, as long as it is well planned and implemented by companies. For this, it is necessary to take into account the needs of the workers, the characteristics of the tasks, the conditions of infrastructure and technology and the norms that govern the work.

The hybrid work regime requires a cultural change in organizations. Managers need to stop focusing on hours in front of the computer and start to evaluate the results more and reduce the thousands of useless meetings and interruptions. It is also necessary that the moments of meeting are focused on projects that demand more cooperation and shared knowledge. Without these adaptations, it will be difficult for companies to take advantage of the productivity gains that technology and remote work allow.

So remote working is neither a panacea nor a nightmare. If companies can adapt and take advantage of advancing technology, instead of fighting employees, we can have the best of each format. But only time will tell what the result of all these changes in the work dynamics will be.

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