Work from home or go out to work - what may work and what cannot
COVID-19 at the beginning, banished everyone from going to work. A combination of lockdowns, curfews, quarantines and self-isolations compelled millions of employees worldwide to work from home. Millions more who couldn’t do that - simply had no choice but stay at home too.
The pandemic hastened a seismic shift to remote work – one, that several organisations had experimented, pre-COVID-19 and yet were reluctant to accept though. It was a story similar to hotels that shied away from adapting to technology until the virus outbreak forced their hand.
Coronavirus not only ignited remote work to spread like wildfire, it has made people realise the unbridled freedom that comes with it – the remote employee can work anywhere at home –be it in the kitchen, bedroom, sitting room or garden.
Now after nearly a year of the pandemic, the ‘pros and cons’ of working away from the office are becoming sharper. Just as much as COVID-19 created a massive shift to remote work, advancing vaccination programs and the reopening of economies will result, in an equally massive reverse shift of employees getting back to their respective workplaces. Which then, raises the question “Who gets to work away from office and who must come into office to work?”
The remote work opportunity will not appeal to those who make out to be workaholics because they would want to retain a lot of those things that we often heard pre-pandemic times: such as “I’m working 24/7, no time for any break as I’m always on because there’s so much on my plate”.
As for the others, at one end of the spectrum will be those who can remote work all 5 days of the week. At the other end, are those who will be required to come to the office / workplace every day – for e.g. those conducting CT scans or making deliveries to name just a couple, from the thousands of activities from thousands of occupations. Caught in the middle will be those who can be allowed to work from home 2-3 days of the week, while needing to report in person to the workplace for the other 3-2 days. These are those who carry can carry out some tasks remotely – especially done in times of crisis, but are more effectively done in person. A prime example would be teaching. Take hospitality education for example; Instruct students – Yes. Train those following food preparation and/or service-related courses – No.
An analysis by McKinsey reveals that the potential for remote work is concentrated among highly skilled, highly educated workers in a handful of industries, occupations, and geographies. It goes on to add that 20+ percent of the workforce could work remotely 3-5 days of the week as effectively as they could if working in an office.
The findings of the analysis concludes that if remote work occurred at the 20% level, it would translate to as many as 3 to 4 times more people working from home before COVID-19, and this could have far reaching consequences on urban economies, transportation, and on the growth of consumerism. Many businesses could take a hit as a result.
In 2013, Yahoo, which until that time was considered a world leader for remote work, suddenly recalled all its remote employees with an email that said:” Speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home. We need to be one Yahoo!, and that starts with physically being together. The memo whilst outlining sweeping changes instructed employees to report to office within three months – or lose their jobs, raising questions as to whether offices are more productive than working from home and if this spelt the end of remote work. Ironically, Yahoo provided an answer – albeit 5 years later, when it changed its stance after the release of its article “Why it pays to let employees work remotely”.
Remote work is here to stay. And companies will have to adapt to it. Entire infrastructures and cultures will have to support the tidal wave following COVID-19, of working outside the office. Organisations will have to face the work from home hybrid situation as a permanent fixture and put in a greater focus on how to maintain a single company culture.
Ilzaf Keefahs is a freelance writer who enjoys focusing on hospitality related matters that he is passionate about, and likes to share his views with hoteliers and customers alike. He delves into the heart of hospitality to figure out both customer service and consumer trends that impact the industry.
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